Side by Side
by Teddy-Lupin-Head-Boy
Summary: According to Rose Weasley's research, she is set to become the youngest Hogwarts professor in half a century. That is until she learns her ex-boyfriend Scorpius Malfoy has become the new Ancient Runes professor. While figuring out where Scorpius fits into her new life, without getting her heart broken again, this year is going to be more difficult than Rose originally thought.
1. Back at Hogwarts

**Hi! Yes I am back with another Rose/Scorpius story! After I finished _It's Always an Uphill Battle_ , I honestly did not think I was going to write another fic. And yet, under a month later, I am back again starting a new story. I couldn't get this idea out of my head, and I already have the whole story mapped out and outlined. It's going to be 20 chapters, so not as long as ****_It's Always an Uphill Battle._ Also, just in case someone is wondering: THIS IS NOT AN ****_It's Always an Uphill Battle_ SEQUEL. Yes it is Scorose, but they have a completely different history. Also, starting next chapter, flashbacks will be used throughout the story to provide little moments of Rose and Scorpius while they were dating at Hogwarts. So I hope you enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW! It makes me so happy and I want to know your thoughts! **

The cool breeze that entered Rose Weasley's window caused her to shiver, effectively waking her up. Although it was summertime, Rose was still wrapped up in blankets, creating a cocoon. She had the day off from her part time job at the Ministry, effectively guaranteeing she would stay in bed until past noon. Her newest book sat on her dresser which meant Rose would not go downstairs for sometime. Rose's mother and father also had the day off, while her brother was off in Romania working with their uncle Charlie at a dragon reserve.

At age 21 Rose still lived at home, and yet she was not ashamed of it. She did not see the need to find her own place when she could live rent free without having to cook. Besides, her parents gave her relatively enough space, and it wasn't like she was bringing blokes home. That would create awkward situations Rose just knew to avoid.

Finally admitting she was not going to fall back asleep, Rose sat up and grabbed her book. She opened to chapter three, "Everyday Charms for Your Average Witch," and began to read. Before she could get lost in the book, an owl started incessantly tapping on her window. Rose stood up, mildly cursing as she tripped on her shoes on the floor, gave the owl a treat and took the letter from its beak. Seeing the seal was from Hogwarts, she hurriedly ripped open the envelope. The letter fell out, and Rose read the parchment as fast as she possibly could.

 _Dear Ms. Weasley_ ,

 _I am delighted to inform you that you have been offered the post as the new Charms professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the upcoming term. Your stellar NEWT scores and love for the subject made you the obvious choice. I am excited to see the impact you will make on your students and the touch you put on the Charms curriculum. You must come to Hogwarts by August 25, a week before the students will arrive. In addition, you will be provided living quarters, as requested, on the school grounds. I look forward to seeing you and wish you good luck with your first term as a professor!_

 _Best,_

 _Filius Flitwick_

 _Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Rose screamed once she had read the letter and started jumping up and down like a little girl. She could not believe that her childhood wish was coming true: she was going to be a professor at Hogwarts! Ever since her first year, she had fallen in love with the subject of charms and hoped to teach it one day. Professor Flitwick had been so instructive, and yet Rose hoped to put her own twist on the subject. So when Teddy, current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, had notified her that Flitwick was set to take over as Headmaster, she applied for his old position. From the moment she arrived back at Hogwarts for her interview Rose knew that this was where she was meant to be. She was very nervous, but when she had finished speaking with Flitwick she had a good feeling about her prospects for the position. Charms always had been her best subject and she had been one of Flitwick's favorite students, after all.

A few moments after Rose's outburst of excitement, her father ran into her room, wand in hand, worried that his daughter had been brutally attacked.

"Bloody hell, Rosie, are you alright? I heard screaming," Ron muttered, relieved that his daughter seemed to be fine.

"Oh, dad, you'll never believe it! I got the letter today that I got the job at Hogwarts! You are now looking at Professor Rose Weasley!" she screamed, her grin encapsulating her entire face.

"Rosie, that's wonderful! Just wait until your mother hears about this," he said hugging his daughter and yelling downstairs for his wife. "Hermione! Come up here!"

"Ronald what is it?" Hermione asked before seeing her daughter so happy and the letter she held in her hand. She immediately put the pieces together and tears formed in her eyes. "Rose this is amazing! You've always wanted to be a professor and you're going to be the best Hogwarts has ever seen and I'm so proud of you!"

Rose thanked her parents and nudged them out of the room as her mother continued to talk about lesson plans and demonstrations she could do. Rose was still so shocked; she would be able to impart knowledge on the minds of the future. She was going back to Hogwarts, her true home.

XXX

A month later Rose stood in her living room, eying the large banner her father had put up that said: Congratulations Rose! She was all packed and set to leave for Hogwarts the next day and her parents had decided to throw her a going away party. Her mother, along with the help of Nana Weasley, had cooked enough food to feed all of the Wizengamot. Rose had told her parents that this party was unnecessary, but they had claimed that it would be a good chance for her large family to say goodbye. After some hesitation Rose acquiesced, knowing how much she would miss her cousins and this would be a good opportunity to spend one last time all together before Christmas.

Soon, family started arriving and she hardly had a chance to breathe. Her brother, Hugo, had even taken a portkey back from Romania for the special day. She was being constantly hugged by aunts, uncles, and cousins while they continued to ask her questions such as "how much are you being paid?" to "how many detentions do you think you'll give this term?" Rose was at least thankful that all of her cousins had graduated from Hogwarts, so she would not be accused of favoritism. However, as it was her first year and she was somewhat nervous, she was glad that Teddy would be there to help her along the way. Besides him, her cousin, Victoire, and Teddy's wife of three years, also resided at Hogwarts. Vic was a columnist for the Daily Prophet, so she was able to work from any location.

Before she had a moment to sample any of her nana's delicious food, she knew to avoid her mother's, she was dragged outside by her cousin, Albus. Rose pushed her busy red hair out of her face and huffed as Albus proceeded to talk to her.

"Look, Al, I'll be fine. I mean, Teddy and Vic will be there so it's not like I'll be all by myself," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I know, Rose. It's just you're going to be surrounded by teenagers, so it's not like you'll have a lot of people your age to spend your free time with."

"Al, I didn't want to become a professor to boost my social life! Come on, you know I'll be fine and you can floo by and visit me whenever you want."

While Rose was making this offer, she knew Albus would only be sparingly available to take her up on it. As a member of the Puddlemere quidditch team, he was often busy. Besides, Rose knew she would be fine. It was never like she was a social butterfly that went out to pubs every night anyway. When she met a friend, or even a guy, it was usually through family. But that came with dangerous territory because there was a lot of people who wanted to befriend Rose, or even date her, because her last name was Weasley. And, Merlin, she hated those people.

"I'm not concerned about how many times you have friends over for tea," her cousin Lily interrupted, "I'm concerned about how you'll be able to meet guys at Hogwarts. You're stuck in the middle of nowhere and the only men you'll see that are under age 50 are Teddy and Uncle Neville!"

Rose rolled her eyes. Her cousin was always involving herself in Rose's love life and she just wanted Lily to, well, fuck off. It was none of her business whether Rose regularly went on dates or not. And besides, all of the men Lily had set her up with had been duds.

"Lil, I'll be fine. Seriously dating is the last of my concerns at the moment."

"C'mon, Rosie, ever since Scor-" Rose's glare stopped Lily dead in her tracks. Lily had momentarily forgotten that they didn't mention _him_ anymore. Lily seemed to gain her composure before continuing. "Fine. I hate to tell you, but you've better get a move on because you're not getting any younger."

Albus pretended he had not heard that comment as he did not want to hear about his cousin's love life, while Rose stuck her tongue out at her younger cousin as she went back inside. Sometimes Rose wished she had a family that didn't meddle in all of her business. Granted, that would be a lot easier starting tomorrow when she was in another country.

XXX

Rose hugged her parents one last time before grabbing onto the portkey along with her belongings. Not wanting to apparate such a long distance, she held tightly onto the portkey while making sure not to drop her trunk. She would need to find a new wardrobe and collection of books if she dropped it now while high up in the air. She slightly stumbled but regained her balance as she landed and started to make her way towards the gate that guards the castle. Rose waved when she saw Flitwick on the other side of the gate, raising his wand to open it for her.

"Rose, my dear, it is wonderful to see you!" He squeaked, giving her a brief hug.

"You too! I know it had been announced last time we spoke, but let me offer you an official congratulations on becoming headmaster."

"Thank you. It was so kind for Minerva to think of me when she retired. Alas, I don't know how long I will be at it though since I am aging quite a bit myself," he said as he headed back towards the castle and Rose followed.

Rose nodded, silently agreeing. She had always liked Professor Flitwick, but she sometimes found him a little to sentimental for her tastes. Maybe it was the numerous generation gaps or just her upbringing, but Rose could never be as cheery or even emotional as he was.

"Now I am still waiting on one more professor to arrive, so I must leave you here," Flitwick said once he and Rose had passed the Great Hall. "I trust that you can find your office and living quarters, both of which are attached to the charms classroom. Now I will see you at dinner. I hear the elves have prepared a marvelous feast for us!"

Flitwick then vanished out of sight, leaving Rose to finish her walk alone. However, this did not bother Rose as she was free to truly take her time. It had only been four years since she had last been at Hogwarts, and yet to Rose it seemed like a lifetime. Rose took a deep breath, wanting to take in the air. Her cousins had always laughed at her, but she had always claimed that Hogwarts had a distinctive smell, one she could not get enough of. Granted, there was one person who didn't laugh at her when she said this, but Rose refused to allow herself to think about _him_ anymore.

When Rose finally reached the charms classroom, she could tell that it was in desperate need of a dusting. It had obviously not been touched since the end of last school year and Filch had ignored it throughout the summer. She made a mental note to clean it tomorrow as she headed past her office and into her living quarters.

There was a small common area with a fireplace, a table, and a kitchenette. Rose knew she wouldn't be doing any cooking of her own, but appreciated that she had a stove of her own, just in case her mother or Nana visited. She turned around to see two doors: one leading to a bathroom and another to her bedroom. Rose levitated the trunk into her bedroom before noticing a certain Metamorphmagus was already lying on her bed.

"Teddy Remus Lupin, what are you doing in my room?" she yelled, unable to control her laughter.

"I figured I would help you unpack. Vic isn't feeling too well so I wanted to give her some space, anyway."

Growing up, Teddy had always been one of her favorite cousins and she had slightly idolized him. Although he had technically only had become family three years ago when he married Victoire, Rose had always thought of him as her cousin. Rose was so glad that Teddy and Vic would be at Hogwarts; although she didn't believe Albus and Lily when they said she would not be able to find anyone her own age, having part of her family at Hogwarts reassured her.

Rose then ordered Teddy to help her start unpacking, as her trunk was filled to the brim. However, Teddy turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help as he continued to put Rose's clothes in the wrong drawer and mess up her organizational schema. After a few minutes, Rose gave up and flopped onto her bed next to Teddy.

"Now, Teddy. Albus and Lily were feeding me all this nonsense that since I'll be here all year I'm not going to be able to meet people my own age. Is that true? Even if it is, can you tell them that they're being ridiculous?"

"Well, I have to admit there really aren't that many people here that you would want to regularly grab a drink with. Thankfully I've had Vic so it's made it easier for me," he said.

"Ahh, yes. I'm sure being married does help. But it's not my fault that I'm the youngest professor Hogwarts has had in quite some time!" she exclaimed, laughing at her dramatic statement.

"Well, you might not exactly be the only new young professor," Teddy whispered, hoping Rose wouldn't hear him.

Rose was instantly confused. She had thought that she was the only new professor for this upcoming term. However, Teddy obviously knew something and was hiding it from her. That was extremely odd since Teddy was a horrible secret keeper and practically spilled his guts anytime he saw Rose.

"Teddy. Tell me," Rose said while glaring at him.

Teddy's hair turned yellow, and Rose knew that this meant he was nervous.

"Nope. I'm not going to be the one to tell you this. You'll have to see it for yourself." Noticing Rose would get the information out of him soon, Teddy jumped up from the bed and ran to the doorway. "I think I'm just gonna go, but I'll see you in a bit for dinner. Uh, bye!" he said before taking off.

Rose knew it was no use to try and catch him; he would be gone already. Instead of continuing to unpack, Rose laid on her bed and thought about what Teddy had said. When she finally admitted defeat and realized she could not figure it out on her own, she set off towards the Great Hall. Maybe this other new professor would be there already and her brain would stop turning.

Putting on her grey jumper, as the hallways were quite cold, Rose left. Thankfully the Great Hall, and by extension the kitchens, were not too far from her. This meant that Rose could grab food quickly whenever she wanted. And Rose had a chocolate fix she never could seem to get over. The kitchens would definitely become her new sanctuary.

As Rose entered the Great Hall, her eyes scanned the table for anyone she didn't know. She was still insanely curious about Teddy's comment and wanted to immediately solve the mystery. Many of the professors from her school days were still there, and Rose was looking for the anomaly. She instantly froze as she saw the person sitting next to her Uncle Neville. Rose could not tear her eyes away from him, nor could she move her feet. The one person Rose convinced herself that she would never have to see again, and yet he was here.

He had noticed her as well, and yet he remained calm, drawing his gaze away after a moment and focusing back on his food. It was if, to him, nothing was wrong, and yet to Rose it seemed that the world was on fire. Since she found herself unable to look away, she studied him, looking for any differences since they had last seen each other. His platinum hair was now an inch or so shorter than Rose had remembered, but other than that he looked the same. Granted he was a few years older, but so was she. Before a few moments had passed, Uncle Neville called out to her.

"Rose, come here! There is an open seat next to me."

Suddenly her legs started to work again and she found herself in the spot next to Uncle Neville. Rose thought she had to be dreaming; there was no was _he_ was here. Yes, this must be a nightmare and she would wake up any moment and this would all be over. She subtly pinched her arm, willing herself to wake up. When that did nothing she mentally cursed. So she was awake. This was no nightmare, it was real life.

"Rose, you're familiar with Scorpius Malfoy, our new ancient runes professor, right?" Neville asked, trying to involve her in the conversation. She nodded and pretended to smile, unable to form words.

Scorpius Malfoy, her ex-boyfriend and the only man that had broken her heart, was here at Hogwarts. As a professor. Oh Merlin, this is going to be interesting.

 **So that's it for the first chapter. Really this is more of an introduction, because all other chapters will have a lot more of Scorpius in them. However, the entire story will be third person, focusing on Rose's POV, so we won't really know what Scorpius is thinking until it is revealed to Rose. I'm rating this story T, but as the chapters progress, if anyone thinks it needs to be M just let me know and I will change it. Thanks and please review, favorite, and follow! I promise all other chapters will be MUCH more interesting since they'll have Rose/Scorpius interaction. Because that is always the best part.**


	2. New Friends and Enemies

**Hi everyone! Second chapter already! And it's pretty long, so I'm pretty proud of myself. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far and as it progresses you will see more of Scorpius and Rose together. This chapter only has one flashback, but every chapter will have at least one and sometimes two. If you're confused just let me know. They all take place within Scorpius and Rose's 5th-7th years, and I'll try and make it clear. Also p** **lease continue to review! Especially if you click to follow or favorite the story, review too! It can even be something super short, but every piece of advice, criticism, or kind words helps me. Also, Fanfiction has been kind of funky lately. I get an email saying I have received reviews (and I can read what they say in the email) but when I come on the site I can't see them. Anyone else having this problem? Enjoy! :)**

 _Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity._

 _Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be._

 _But you're on to me and all over me._

"Gravity" -Sara Bareilles

XXX

"Rose, did you hear me?" Uncle Neville said, trying to get her attention.

But that was just the problem. How could Rose focus on dinner when she was sitting less than five feet away from Scorpius Malfoy? She certainly never expected to see him again after they had graduated from Hogwarts. After he had broken her heart. She had practically banished him from her mind, and that of those around her, and yet seeing him made Scorpius unavoidable. She knew that this would make him a fixture in her life in some way. Even if she tried her hardest to avoid him, they would still live in the same castle, eat at the same table at every meal. No amount of running would get Scorpius far away from her now.

Honestly, all Rose wanted to do was scream out that this wasn't fair. Yes, it was childish, but she didn't give a damn. She had finally gotten the job of her dreams, and he had ruined it by becoming a professor too. Rose wanted to go find Professor Flitwick and curse that squeaky little man for hiring Scorpius. Certainly, it had been pretty common knowledge that her and Scorpius had dated, or so she had thought. She at least deserved a warning from someone, hell, _anyone_. She wanted to yell and tell the entire world that this wasn't fair and if Merlin himself had asked her what one person would she wish to never run into again, it would be Scorpius. Life was cruel.

Rose had not heard that Professor Babbling was planning to retire, so of course it was a shock to see Scorpius. But if he were to become a professor, of course it would be for Ancient Runes. He had always had a certain affinity for the subject, something Rose could never come close to. Yes, they generally fought over the top spot in most classes, but in Ancient Runes he had always come out on top no matter what Rose would do. Granted, the same could be said for her and Charms.

Rose had thought about many things happening while she was a professor at Hogwarts, but this never even crossed her mind for a second. She did think for a moment that this could be a joke. Yes, James and Fred still liked to pull pranks on her every once in a while. Maybe they had used polyjuice to turn into Scorpius. This would be a cruel joke, but Rose liked this idea better than the alternative of admitting it was actually Scorpius. But when she glanced over again at Scorpius, he was eating broccoli; both James and Fred detested broccoli. Damn, so she wasn't dreaming and that must actually be Scorpius in the flesh.

"Rose, did you hear me?" Neville repeated, now slightly concerned.

Rose was broken out of her trance and subsequently spit the spaghetti that was half in her mouth back onto her plate. Because of this she fell into a brief coughing fit where it seemed the frog stuck in her throat would never escape. If she looked close enough, Rose swore that she saw a small smirk grace Scorpius's face. His steely grey eyes lit up, trying to contain his laughter and the humor he found in the situation. His platinum hair fell across his eyes, and he easily pushed the strands aside.

"Ahem, uh, sorry I must've been daydreaming for a second. What did you say?" Rose said, trying to regain her composure, but obviously failing.

"I said that I have to go. I have to take care of the Fanged Geranium; they've been acting up again. I'll see you tomorrow. Rose, Scorpius," he nodded at them both before standing up from the table. Neville had disappeared before Rose was able to offer him her help. She would do practically anything to leave the table this instant. But then Rose regained her wits, or those she had left after this whole ordeal, and she realized that she could leave the table if she wanted. Sure her stomach would not thank her later on, but she would deal with hunger in order to not be here at the current moment. However, before Rose could stand up, she heard a voice beside her:

"How are you, Rose?" he whispered, not dragging his eyes to meet hers.

"M'fine," she muttered back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing how riled up he got her. She really didn't want to speak to him; in fact, that was the last thing she ever wanted to do. Rose hated him for what he had done, for leaving her with no real explanation. Not wanting to wait another moment, she decided that this would be the best time to get away. Rose stood up, loudly bumping the table in the process. Scorpius, and practically the entire Hogwarts staff, looked up at her as she sped walked out of the Great Hall. Who was she kidding? Scorpius had seen what an effect his presence did and what control over her he had. But really Rose knew that Scorpius had been aware of this for quite some time.

XXX

 _April 22, 2023. Rose and Scorpius's sixth year._

 _"I don't think I can do this anymore, Rose."_

 _She was shocked. Rose could feel her jaw drop, and she was sure that she had just heard her boyfriend, Scorpius, wrong. Her and Scorpius were a teasing couple, but they would never joke like this. Then Rose looked directly into his eyes and she could tell that he wasn't joking. Scorpius was never the most emotional person; he was closed off unless he undoubtedly trusted someone. But as they were dating, Rose had found his tell: his eyes revealed everything. Scorpius could tell a person that he was fine, but if they looked deep enough into his grey eyes, they would be able to see how Scorpius was actually feeling. And at this moment, when Rose looked into Scorpius's eyes, she saw that he actually was not kidding. He was breaking up with her._

 _Rose instantly felt the tears fall from her eyes. She had always felt that she had a great control over her emotions, but she was now learning that this was obviously not the case. Try and try as she did, the tears continued to fall. Generally, the person who could stop the tears was now the one causing them. She tried to push her hair out of her face, in order to not have her busy hair and tears intermingle; however, she was too late. A few of her curls were now damp, but this seemed to be one of the last of Rose's concerns at the moment._

 _Realizing she wouldn't be able to stand for much longer, Rose sat down on the staircase behind her. The coldness of the stone staircase caused her to shiver. Normally when she was cold, Scorpius would put his arm around her or give her his jacket. But that was now in the past. He would never do that again. Rose and Scorpius, thought of as a single entity, as a couple, was now no more, and that killed her. She had so many wonderful memories with Scorpius, and they were all behind them. Rose didn't want this to be the end. She had felt so much more alive with Scorpius in her life. He had made her life better. She smiled, laughed, and loved more when she was around Scorpius. Rose could not even think about how her life would change. She didn't want her life to change. She was happy and Rose had thought that Scorpius had been happy too. Obviously she was wrong._

 _"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice cracking. The tears had now caused her throat to become dry. Asking such a simple question had become quite the difficult task._

 _"I'm sorry," he whispered, turning around so he was no longer facing her._

 _"Please don't do this," she begged. Rose just wanted to forget this whole night and go back to the way things were before. That was all she wanted._

 _"Goodbye, Rose," Scorpius said, leaving Rose by herself. She felt so alone._

 _Rose would've never have guessed this is what her night would entail. She had received a brief note from Scorpius, asking her to meet him at Astronomy Tower at 11. Rose had snuck out after hours before, but she wondered why Scorpius wanted to meet her then. Yes, he had skipped dinner and they normally ate together, but nothing was really out of the ordinary. Rose had last seen him in Transfiguration earlier today, and after class he kissed her forehead and said that he would see her later. Something seemed to have drastically changed between late afternoon and now. Or maybe Scorpius had been unhappy for sometime, and Rose had no clue._

 _However, she was so angry at him. How could he just break up with her when everything seemed fine? When he gave her no fucking reason at all, just that he was "sorry." The least he could do is tell Rose why he was doing this. She was so damn happy with him, and it destroyed her inside that he did not feel the same way. But what killed Rose most of all was the power Scorpius had over her emotions and feelings. He had caused this, the pain she felt. And he did nothing to stop it. Scorpius knew the pain she would feel, and yet he broke up with her without explaining why. He had broken her heart, and in that moment Rose swore to never forgive him for this._

XXX

Teddy, noticing Rose's disappearance, followed his cousin out of the Great Hall and soon thereafter caught up to her. He had been the Hufflepuff Chaser, after all, and Rose could rarely go a day without tripping on her own two feet. He needed to make sure she was alright.

"Hey, Rose, are you okay?" he asked, grabbing her arm.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me? You _knew_ he was going to be here, and somehow you thought it would be better for me to find out on my own? Do you know how overwhelmed and confused I was?" she retorted, fire practically coming from her mouth. Rose did not often get angry, but when she was everyone knew to get away from her. Legend said that she had inherited her aunt's wicked bat-bogey hex, but none of her cousins would confirm nor deny this claim. Teddy gave Rose a few moments to unleash her anger before responding.

"Look, I'm sorry. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. I was afraid if I told you, you wouldn't have even of showed up to dinner. Or you would've backed out of all of this, or I don't know. I just didn't want to make any rash decisions because you knew your ex was here."

Rose pinched her nose and looked at Teddy. He did genuinely seem to feel bad, and he had done what was best all things considered. Rose would never admit this, but if the tables were turned she probably would've done the same thing. She couldn't honestly say what she would've done if Teddy had told her about Scorpius before she had gone to dinner.

"Ugh, it's fine, Teddy. Just in the future, please just tell me what you know."

"I promise, Rosie. Hey! Why don't I walk you back to your room," he offered.

"No, I'm okay. Besides, I can tell you're still hungry. Go back and eat some more," she said, knowing Teddy wouldn't turn down more food.

"Haha," he laughed. "You do know me too well. But why don't you come to the Three Broomsticks tonight! Vic and I were planning on going. Granted, she's still not feeling that great at the moment, but she'll join if she's not feeling as sick. C'mon! Say you'll come!" Teddy begged.

Rose knew it was pointless to say no. Teddy would badger her until she finally agreed. She decided to save herself the time and aggravation and just acquiesce.

"Fine, but just one drink! I'll see you later, Lupin," she teased.

"Back at you, Weasley!"

Rose continued back to her room, as she resolved to work more on lesson plans before she headed down to the Three Broomsticks. She was not that far from her living quarters, when she heard a humming from behind her. For a moment she presumed it was Teddy until she recognized the tune: it was Peeves. When she turned around, she saw Peeves juggling four pumpkin pasties.

"Weasley's back! Weasley's back to play!" Peeves exclaimed, throwing the first pasty at Rose. She ducked as the pasty missed her head by a few inches.

Rose had always had an interesting relationship with Peeves. While her cousins James and Fred loved Peeves, she had always been an easy target for him. When Rose thought about coming back to Hogwarts, she hoped that Peeves would respect her more. Obviously she was wrong.

"Damn it Peeves!" Rose yelled as she dodged another pasty, but as she happened to trip over her own feet and fall onto the ground. Rose never was the most graceful person, and as she grabbed her ankle she saw that it was slightly swollen.

"Miss Weasley are you alright?" Professor Flitwick asked as he hobbled around the corner. Peeves was, of course, already gone.

"Yes, I'm fine. It seems that in the less than ten hours I've been here, Peeves has already found me," she said, trying to hide the pain from her face. Unfortunately, Flitwick was an expert at reading people by now and insisted on taking her to the Hospital Wing. Rose continued to deny that she was hurt and she continued to say that she would be fine.

"Really, Miss Weasley, Madam Farrell is a spectacular nurse if I do say so myself!"

Rose was aware that a new Matron had been appointed last year after Madam Pomfrey had retired, but she had not asked who it was. But really, she did hope that Madam Farrell would be able to heal her ankle. Rose normally did this by herself when she tripped, which was quite often, but she was quite awful at healing spells and she did not have the necessary potions to help with the pain.

When Flitwick ushered her into the Hospital Wing, Rose saw a young blonde sitting by a desk, seemingly taking notes.

"Ahh, Madam Farrell, I think I have your first patient of the year!" Flitwick exclaimed. Rose rolled her eyes as she hobbled onto the nearest bed. "I'll leave you to it then! Miss Weasley, I'll see you tomorrow!"

Madam Farrell walked over to the bed, and seemingly inspected Rose. It was strange for Rose to see anyone here but Madam Pomfrey. After all of the injuries Rose had during her time at Hogwarts, most of which were her own fault because of her clumsiness, Madam Pomfrey had always been helpful and kind. This new Matron seemed no different, but it seemed weird to Rose to still act as a patient in the Hospital Wing even though she was now 21. Oh well, this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Peeves. Granted, Rose knew that because of her clumsiness she would've been in here soon enough.

"Hi, I'm Emily," she said, brushing her long blonde hair off of her shoulder. "Now let's see the ankle." Emily lifted the ankle up, pulling it close to inspect it. "How'd this happen?"

"Let's just say that Peeves has already found me and while I may have been fast enough to avoid the pumpkin pasty, I might've, umm, tripped on my own two feet," she whispered, realizing she was already in the Hospital Wing on her first day back so there was no need to hid her embarrassment.

"Haha, I got a proper welcoming from Peeves last year. Let's just say I couldn't get the cranberry sauce out of my hair for over a week. Not the greatest look, especially since my hair is pretty light. You're the new Charms professor, right?"

"Mhmm," Rose replied. "You started last year?"

"Yep. I finished Healer training in June and then started at Hogwarts last September. I've always wanted to be a nurse at a school, so I was ecstatic to hear there was an opening here!"

Rose mentally did the math and figured that Emily was only around a year older than her. Now she had something else to tell Lily about in her next letter; there was someone else here her age. Ha! Granted, Scorpius was her age too, but he didn't seem to count.

Emily left to grab a potion for Rose's ankle and returned after a few moments. She urged Rose to drink it as it would help with the throbbing pain. Rose nodded and quickly swallowed the potion; she had been given this by Madam Pomfrey quite a few times.

"Where did you go to school?" Rose asked, since she was sure she hadn't gone to Hogwarts. While Hogwarts did hold many students, Rose knew everyone in her grade and in the grades above and below her.

"Beaubaton's. My father's from England but my mother is French. We moved to France when I was seven."

"Oh, you don't seem to have an accent," Rose replied.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't have one when I was younger and when I went to school I tried my hardest not to get one. I mean, most people at Beaubaton's are French, so I wanted to be different and have an English accent."

Rose laughed at this. Emily seemed quite quirky but funny too. Basically the kind of friend she needed in her life right now.

"My aunt went to Beaubaton's. She really loved it there."

"Yeah, I guess it was alright. I don't have any complaints. Okay, Rose, it looks like you're set! Just try not to trip again!" she said. Emily made a brief note in her notebook, probably chronicling Rose's injury and the potion she gave her. Her blue eyes scanned what she had just written, and then she shut the book.

"Thanks! But knowing me, I'll be in here quite often!"

"I don't mind, you're better company than second years who just come here to get out of class. You're welcome back whenever you want! Although I don't think Fitwick would like it if you were here when _you're_ supposed to be teaching class; any other time though!"

Rose thanked her one more time, before she stood up and made her way to the door. However, before she was completely gone she turned around, an idea forming in her head.

"Emily, if you're free, my cousin, her husband, and I were planning on going to the Three Broomsticks tonight for a drink at around 9. Do you want to tag along?"

"I would love to, but I can't tonight. I have a meeting with another professor about a potion he needs to take daily, so we need to discuss formalities and such. You know, the boring stuff. And then I really need to get all of the supplies ready for when the students arrive. There are always so many illnesses and accidents those first few weeks of school. But I'd love to next time. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that sounds great! Try to have fun with your boring meeting!" Rose said before leaving. At least she knew that she could rely on Emily to ensure she didn't die from her clumsiness. Embarrassment, however, was another story.

XXX

Rose arrived at the Three Broomsticks a few minutes before Teddy and Victoire were scheduled to arrive. Rose had a habit of always being early, regardless of where she was going and who she was meeting. Maybe it was because her father was always late to everything, so Rose felt the need to overcompensate and be early. Before arriving she had pulled her hair up into a ponytail, tired of the humidity. She had been too lazy to change, so she wore the same clothes she had been wearing all day: a jumper and jeans. Muggle clothes were just more comfortable to Rose, and students wouldn't be arriving for another week, giving her the excuse to wear Muggle attire for now. Because she knew she would have to wear robes or at least dress more professionally once school started.

"Rose!" Victoire yelled, notifying Rose that her and Teddy were here, right on time. She pulled her cousin into a hug while Teddy stole the spot next to her at the bar.

"Hey, Vicky. Are you feeling better? Ted said he thought you might've caught a bug or something."

"Yeah, I'm feeling alright now, but I don't think I'm gonna drink tonight just in case," Victoire replied. Teddy was already chatting up Rosmerta, ordering their first round.

Then the trio fell into a conversation, making fun of their cousins and various aunts and uncles, sharing any gossip they had. Apparently Hugo had met some girl in Romania and had only told Teddy about her. He had sworn to keep it quiet for now, but Teddy was awful with secrets. He made Vic and Rose promise not to tease Hugo, but Rose wasn't sure how long she would be able to last. At least she had some blackmail on her brother now, because she knew that he had a lot on her. After all, Rose's middle name was practically Embarrassment. Rose then told the two of them about Emily and how nice she seemed. They said that neither of them had been down to the Hospital Wing last year, but from what they had seen and heard about Emily, Rose's assessment seemed correct. Then Teddy ordered them another round which Rose knew wasn't a good idea but she said yes anyway.

Rose loved spending time with Victoire and Teddy. Since they were her oldest cousins, it would've been easy for them to treat her as a child when they were growing up. But instead they always tried to include Rose and that made her feel quite happy and loved. From when they were little, it was obvious that Teddy and Vic would one day wind up together. They were practically a fairy tale in the making and no one was surprised when they announced they were dating. Sure their relationship took work, but Rose couldn't even imagine how nice it would be to be married to your best friend.

After one final round, which Rose insisted on paying for, Victoire decided that it was time for her to get back to the castle. She apologized but said that she was exhausted and really needed a good night's rest. Teddy decided that he was becoming an old man since he was quite knackered too. Rose, on the other hand, decided that she wasn't ready to head back yet and told the pair she would be fine walking back by herself. Although it took her a while to convince Victoire, she finally acquiesced and Teddy and Vic left. Rose laughed, forgetting how protective and maternal Vic could be some times. She ordered a butterbeer, recognizing there was no way she could handle another Firewhiskey, and took in the scene around her. For a Sunday night, there seemed to be quite a few people at the Three Broomsticks. Growing up, one of Rose's favorite activities would be to people watch. She loved looking at people and trying to come up with elaborate backstories for them. Rose was always more creative than Albus, who was never too good at the game. Scorpius on the other hand… He could come up with such imaginative stories that Rose was always shocked that he hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw. So as she drank her butterbeer, she began to come up with stories for the other patrons of the bar until her thoughts were interrupted.

"Hi, Rose," a voice said, causing Rose to jump in her seat. _He_ sat down next to her and ordered a Firewhiskey. Of course Scorpius would be out tonight. He had a grey blazer on accompanied by his usual smirk. Rose grimaced when she thought of the days that she had found that smirk attractive. If she was being honest with herself, she would admit that she still secretly found it attractive, but Rose was not ready for any major revelations tonight.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, shocked she was being brazen enough to address him, and especially in that manner. She had drunk quite a bit of alcohol tonight though, so that probably did the trick.

"I figured it's my first night back at Hogwarts; I didn't want to sit in my room and write lesson plans," he replied. He quickly finished his drink and ordered a second one; things really never did change. "I thought I'd come out for a drink. Funny running into you here."

"Oh of course," Rose said, just letting her inhibitions go. "It's just a coincidence that you're here right now. Just like it's a fucking coincidence you're at Hogwarts at the same exact time I'm hired. It's all just one big _coincidence_ , isn't it?" It seemed that the filter between Rose's brain and mouth had completely vanished. She had been angry at Scorpius for so damn long, and he was finally going to get a piece of her mind. He had already taken a piece of her heart anyway, so this was all that was left to give him.

"What are you suggesting, Rose? That I applied for this job on the mere hunch that you would apply for the Charms spot. Because even where your bizarre theories are concerned, this is pretty out there. I hate to break it to you, but not everything is about you."

Rose turned around to fully face him and look directly into his eyes, finally not backing down. He had broken up with her and she had been silent. But she refused to be silent now.

"That's rich coming from you! Need I remind you of the last time we spoke. You decided out of the blue that I wasn't what you wanted anymore and you dropped me without an explanation. So don't give me some _bullshit_ about how it was always about me, because it never was about me! You're a self-centered piece of shit and you made that evidently clear to me that night when you said I wasn't good enough for you."

"I never said that! It's not even like I had a choice-"

"No. I don't want to hear these excuses that I'm sure you've had rehearsed for quite some time and are meant to turn you into the victim in our breakup," Rose said standing up and leaving a tip for Rosmerta on the table. "Whatever you have to say, I don't want to listen and I think I've earned the right not to have to listen to you. So goodnight!"

Rose practically ran out of the Three Broomsticks, praying to Merlin that Scorpius didn't follow her. Thankfully, true to form, he didn't. Of all of the scenarios Rose thought of before going out tonight, Scorpius was not involved in any of them. She hadn't had a conversation with him in over four years, and now this had happened. Rose just expected that she would ignore him throughout the year, she never thought that she would've confronted him the way she did. Now their "relationship" (Rose did not want to use that word but she didn't know how else to define it) was definitely in a place that it had never been before.

 **Thanks for reading! Please REVIEW, favorite, and follow. :) Also, if you have a tumblr, follow me! I'm Teddy-Lupin-Head-Boy, just like on here!**


	3. Not So Civil Colleagues

**Hi everyone! I'm back again so quickly, although my updates will probably stop being this soon (but I do promise to update!). I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I thought I'd just put it out there so you guys can read it. It's not really edited (I read over it quickly) but I didn't know when I'd get the chance to post it if I didn't do it now I really appreciate the reviews, favorites, and follows, so please keep it up! Let me know what you think and if you have any predictions for future chapters :)**

 _Part of me_

 _Has Died_

 _And won't return_

 _And part of me_

 _Wants to hide_

 _The part that's burned_

 _Once, once_

 _Knew how to talk to you_

 _Once, once_

 _But not anymore_

 _"Once" -Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova_

XXX

Rose woke up with a throbbing headache. She grabbed her head as she sat up, mildly cursing under her breath. Grabbing a pepper-up potion, she drank it greedily hoping her headache would soon go away. If not, she was sure some coffee at breakfast would do the trick. Rose was practically addicted to coffee. Black or with cream and sugar, she could drink it either way. It depended on if she was in the mood for something extremely bitter or a little sweet. While most of her friends preferred tea instead, Rose never understood why. Tea left her with an aftertaste she always just wanted to immediately scrub out of her mouth. Her obsession with coffee was somewhat unhealthy, but she reasoned to her friends and family that an addiction to coffee was better than an addiction to something more harmful, like drugs. Sure her logic was somewhat flawed, but she always got a laugh from her family when she gave this response.

Getting her mind off of coffee, Rose tried to remember what has caused her headache in the first place. Ah, yes, the alcohol. She groaned when she realized what she had actually said to Scorpius the night before. She had told him exactly what she was thinking, but in the same moment revealed to him how hurt she was by what had happened. Rose could've gone the rest of her life with Scorpius thinking that she was fine. Now he knew the truth, or at least part of it. Great, another thing he could hold over her head forever.

Only Scorpius could make her feel so many emotions at once. Sadness, hatred, regret, and nostalgia all combined into one confusing feeling. She knew things would be worse between them now. There was no way that Rose could ignore what had happened. She figured that the silence between them would now be more hostile and awkward than it even was before, and Rose had thought that would be impossible. And then what bullshit was he trying to spew at her last night? Nothing he said or did could change her opinion about how despicable he is, so why even try. But that was Scorpius, trying to fix unfixable things, just for his own selfish purpose.

The thing that confused Rose most of all is why Scorpius would even want to speak to her. He was the one who ended it; he was the one who forced her to pretend he meant nothing to her right after they broke up. Why would he bother her now? Whatever, at least she had been over him for quite some time now. It at least made things easier to process, but what killed Rose most of all was how it all ended. If it had ended on better terms or if he would've been less cryptic, Rose wouldn't have been as hurt. But he had just made her feel jaded.

And Scorpius had at least tried to be somewhat professional at dinner, more than Rose had done. She had practically stared at him like a deer in the headlights the entire time. But Rose just couldn't pretend that everything was fine between them. To her, it was like he wasn't acknowledging what had passed between them, like they were two people that gone to the same school, nothing more. But Rose knew she was basically contradicting herself. She wanted Scorpius to ignore her, as she wanted to do to him, but in the same vane she wanted Scorpius to recognize their history. There was no way to fix this. She was a hypocrite and she knew it.

When she thought about what had happened last night, at first, Rose began to fault herself. She had become so flustered at seeing Scorpius, first at dinner and then at the Three Broomsticks, that she couldn't help but lash out at him. She had kept it bottled up for so long that it seemed necessary. But then Rose realized that it all wasn't her fault at all; it was his. It was his fault that she was placed in these situations where she didn't know how to talk to him or if to even acknowledge his presence at all. And then it was his fault that he had sat down next to her at the bar last night! The Three Broomsticks is a large establishment; he could've sat anywhere else! And he knew what he was doing by sitting next to her. He would have to be an idiot not to realize that Rose wanted nothing to do with him. Scorpius Malfoy was a lot of things, but idiot was not one of them. Rose just wanted to know what his M.O. was, because Scorpius had been a Slytherin, so of course he had an M.O. She just needed to figure it out.

XXX

 _October 18, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose Weasley sat at the Gryffindor table, nibbling on her muffin. It was still pretty early and she wasn't quite hungry yet. However, she was sure if she gave it a few minutes her stomach would respond and she would feel the need to devour the omelette in front of her. Rose always liked to wake up very early, so only two other people, a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, were up eating at their respective tables. She opened her Transfiguration textbook, figuring it would be good to read ahead before next class, just in case Scorpius had read ahead too. Rose then blushed when she noticed that her brain was thinking about Scorpius. It's just, he could be so kind to others (when he wanted to be and he didn't think others were paying attention) and he was really smart. He always attempted to beat Rose in all of their classes, never just letting her win._

 _They could have such academic discussions and debates, whether over the merit of Alexander Wollemby's essay on felix felicis or whether the Chinese Firebolt or Hungarian Horntail was a more menacing dragon. In short, Rose just liked spending time with Scorpius. He made her laugh and challenged her in ways no one had before. Rose had only started to really notice Scorpius last year. She had always known that he was her biggest academic rival, but she hadn't really known much else about him. Besides occasionally raising his hand in class, Scorpius was pretty quiet. He didn't participate in Quidditch and seemed to not have too many friends. But now that she saw Scorpius more often since they were in all the same N.E.W.T. classes, she had learned so much more about him. She now knew that he was an only child, loved to fly but had no interest in Quidditch, and his favorite color was grey, just like his eyes. She also knew that whenever he was trying to focus, his lips would come together and his tongue would just barely stick out of his mouth. Of course he had been completely unaware of this until Rose had told him, and now she always laughed when he tried to correct the habit. Rose also knew that he was a Malfoy and she a Weasley, but that their names should not change how they treat each other. Rose would feel the same way about him if his last name was Puckle instead of Malfoy._

 _Around a month ago, Scorpius had approached her about becoming study partners. After all, they took the same classes and were constantly competing for the top spot; it made sense to combine their efforts since no one else could match their abilities. Rose liked the idea and they had met everyday in the library after dinner and worked through all of their homework. Rose enjoyed their time spent together studying and the fact that she had gotten to know Scorpius so well._

 _And sometimes when they were alone in the library studying, his hand would brush over hers lightly, causing her to gasp. At first Rose had thought it was an accident, but when Scorpius continued to do it in all of their studying sessions, she had realized that maybe he did it on purpose. And that scared Rose. Not because he did it, but because her heart raced when it happened. It had taken Rose a while, but she had finally recognized the feelings she had for Scorpius were in a more than a friend way. She knew, despite how he drove her crazy with the hand touching, it would be unlikely for anything to happen between the pair. Rose just liked to daydream and imagine her and Scorpius dating; that made her heart soar. Oh well, if she had to settle for being friends, at least she got to spend a lot of time with Scorpius. That was a bonus to the situation._

 _"Rose, how're you today?"_

 _Rose looked up to see Scorpius sitting across from her at the Gryffindor table. Of course he would appear when she had been thinking about him. That was just her luck. However, she regained her composure and responded._

 _"Scorpius, I think you're at the wrong table," she laughed. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"Well no one else is here, so I thought you'd like some company. And I had something to ask you." Then Scorpius grabbed the omelette that was in front of Rose and started to stuff it into his mouth._

 _"Hey! I was gonna eat that! Eventually…"_

 _"Yeah, whatever you say," he replied, checking what textbook she was reading. Although they studied together, he refused to give her advantage. He mentally noted that he would need to read the Transfiguration chapter before class today._

 _"So you said you had something to ask me, what was it?" Rose wasn't even looking up at Scorpius. She was continuing to eat her muffin while skimming the textbook._

 _Suddenly it seemed very quiet to Rose. She looked up to see that Scorpius's cheeks were faintly stained pink, so only if one looked very close they could notice._

 _"Oh yeah, ummm, Rose," he started, grabbing her hand. Rose's breath hitched. There was no mistaking this; he was definitely holding her hand, on purpose. "Umm, well, I feel like I've gotten to know you, and you're spectacular. I mean, no one can quite defeat me in a debate like you can, and you're really funny. And although you hate it, I think your clumsiness is endearing. So, uh, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade this upcoming weekend, like on a date?" he asked, looking down at the table in front of them, yet still not letting go of her hand._

 _Rose couldn't believe it. Scorpius liked her too! Sure, Lily had assured her this, but it was so wonderful to have her feelings validated. And Scorpius was so cute; he rarely got embarrassed, and yet asking her to Hogsmeade had caused him to blush. And she had been told, by Scorpius himself last week, that Malfoys did not blush. In her mind, she honestly could not think of a better guy than Scorpius. Thinking about it, she wondered about how their first date would progress, and what would they would do. Honestly she didn't care what they planned as long as they were together, as sappy as it sounded. Rose Weasley was officially becoming a sap. Great._

 _Then Rose looked back up at Scorpius and saw him looking at her with wide eyes. Oh shit, she hadn't answered him! Here she had been mentally thinking how lucky she was, and he was sitting there hoping she would say yes!_

 _"Scorpius, I'd love to. That sounds great!" she exclaimed, squeezing his hand in return. Scorpius's face light up and a grin appeared._

 _"Awesome! I've got to go read that Transfiguration chapter now, but I'll see you in class in a bit, okay? Bye, Rose," he said, releasing her hand and leaving the table._

 _If Rose paid enough attention, she would swear that Scorpius was practically skipping. And that's how she felt; like her heart was skipping._

XXX

Rose decided that she really needed to buckle down and work on her lesson plans for her sixth year students. Before arriving at Hogwarts she had finished most of her lessons and had neatly written them out, but she was especially struggling with the sixth year curriculum. She had Flitwick's lesson plans at her disposal and she knew what the students needed to learn about by the end of the year, but she was unsure of what demonstrations and lectures would be the best way to give them the information they needed.

Whenever Rose had difficulty thinking, she knew of the exact spot where her mind could be cleared. When she was a student, she always sat by the Black Lake and all of a sudden, she would be able to finish her homework or she would be able to come up with the answer to her problems. Not many students sat by the Black Lake anymore, or at least they didn't when Rose was still a student. And that was part of the reason why Rose loved it: while she could sometimes be outgoing, she also loved her alone time. Rose was the type of girl that needed to refuel by sitting by herself and reading a good book after a long time of socialization.

So Rose got changed, grabbed her sneakers, and made her way outside. She had her papers and quill in hand, ready for ideas to come to her. And she knew they would once she was at the Black Lake. Parchment under her arm and quill in her mouth, Rose pulled her hair up so the wind wouldn't get to her hair. It was bushy enough, and it only became worse when it blew with the wind. Then it always became too unmanageable to be brushed and only added to the difficulty of making it look presentable.

Once Rose was near the Black Lake, she saw a figure, seemingly crouching down and taking notes. She stopped directly in her tracks and her heart sped up. But not in the good kind of way. Oh shit. _He_ was directly in her spot, where she always sat when she came down here. Although Rose could only see the backside of him, Rose knew it was Scorpius. She had spent enough time with him that she could recognize him anywhere from any angle. It seemed that he had the same idea she had: come down here to work on lesson plans. Of course Scorpius would be here. All she wanted to do was work in peace and quiet, and now that would be impossible. He always had to be a pain in her arse, even when he was unaware of it himself.

Rose wondered if she had killed someone in a past life. That was the only way that this could be happening to her. Karma really was a bitch, but Rose was unsure of what she had done to deserve this. She wanted as much time away from Scorpius as possible, and BAM! There he was. Scorpius seemed to be everywhere she turned since she had arrived at Hogwarts. It just wasn't fair.

Of course Rose could blame herself if she wanted. She had been the one to tell Scorpius about her favorite spot while they were dating. Then it had become _their_ favorite spot. Sure it was easier to study in the library, but it was never as refreshing or perfect. So it would make sense that Scorpius would return to this spot, because in his mind it was a place he loved to come to. But Rose was still angry. Why did all things have to be so goddamn difficult when it came to Scorpius? Why couldn't it be easy?

Rose knew that she had a decision to make. She could either bite the bullet and fight against whatever cruel joke fate was playing with her, or she could run back to her room. And Scorpius hadn't seen her, so she could fully avoid another situation with him if she wanted. And although Rose was a Gryffindor, she wasn't always sure why. Rose didn't really need to even think about what she was going to do. She huffed, before quickly making her way back inside. It seemed that, even without his knowledge, Scorpius had won again.

XXX

 _November 10, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose couldn't believe she was going to do this. Her and Scorpius had just started dating, and yet she was trusting him with something she had not told any of her cousins about. But she knew she could tell Scorpius about this, and he would keep it a secret. Rose had been friends with Scorpius before they had started dating, so she knew how trustworthy he was. And besides, they were in a relationship now. She wanted her secret spot to possibly become their secret spot. That would make her extremely happy._

 _"Rose, where are you taking me?" Scorpius asked, intrigued and curious._

 _"Have some patience you prat," she teased while holding his hand._

 _"I am, I am. It just seems that we are going a far way around the Black Lake."_

 _"Well maybe we are, genius. Can't you just not ask questions for a moment, and enjoy the walk!" she urged._

 _Scorpius nodded and let Rose lead him around the lake. She finally stopped when they were at the far end, with shade from a few trees in sight. Rose then made her way over to the largest tree and sat under it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, relishing where she was. Scorpius squinted slightly, taking in the sight around him. Rose seemed so happy, and that made him happy, in a way._

 _"This is my favorite place to escape to," Rose said once she had opened her eyes and remembered she wasn't alone. "I come here when I just want privacy, or really need to finish an assignment, or just need to think. It seems that it's far enough away from the castle that no one else makes the effort to come all the way out here. And besides, this tree offers good support for my back," she laughed._

 _"Then why show me?"_

 _"Because I want to share it with you. I realized I never wanted anyone to know about this place until I thought about you," she blushed. "But I want us to be able to spend time here. Together."_

 _"Thank you," he said, brushing his lips against hers. "That means a lot to me."_

 _"You're welcome," she replied, breathing heavily from the kiss she just received. "So, what should we do?" Rose's breath hitched, as Scorpius's lips attached themselves to her neck._

 _"I think I have an idea," he slightly chuckled as he continued to attack her neck with light feathery kisses._

 _"Mhmmm, okay, I think I like this idea."_

XXX

Once she had gone back to her room, Rose decided to write to Lily. Although she figured Lily would incessantly tease her, Rose was just so frustrated and she just didn't know what to do anymore. The past two days had felt like the longest of her life, and yet this was supposed to be her dream. Some dream so far. Rose sat down at her desk and began to write. She knew this was going to be a long letter.

 _Dear Lil,_

 _I hope things are going well back in London. I know it's only been two days since I've seen you, but I feel the need to tell you something. And for Merlin's sake, please don't make fun of me when I tell you this. Scorpius sodding Malfoy is the new Ancient Runes professor. It's just my luck isn't it? I mean, I try to avoid him and I just keep on running into him!_

 _Last night at dinner I looked like a bloody idiot when I saw him. And then he tried to talk to me and I just stood up and left. I mean, what am I supposed to do? But that wasn't the worst part of it. I may have run into him at the Three Broomsticks last night after I had too much to drink. And I may have, possibly, given him a piece of my mind. I know, I know! But I was pretty drunk and I didn't know what I was saying!_

 _And I just don't even know what to do, Lil. I want to make things normal between us but you know they'll never be that way. I got over him a long time ago, but seeing him again has just made me confused. Those old feelings of anger and sadness are popping up again, and I wish they wouldn't. Do you think maybe they'll just go away on their own? I mean, I plan at staying at Hogwarts for a long time, and he might be thinking that too. I don't know how long I'm going to last if I don't stop feeling like this. Any advice?_

 _Anyway, enough about me. How's the new job going? Have your designs already been chosen to walk the magical runways of Paris and London? Well, it might be a little too soon since it's only your second month and all. But I'm sure they'll recognize your brilliance soon enough._

 _Owl me back when you can, and you'd BETTER NOT TELL ALBUS ABOUT ANY OF THIS!_

 _Love,_

 _Rose_

Rose sent the letter off with her owl and hoped to receive a response from Lily soon. Although Lily was two years younger than her, she had always been one of Rose's closest confidantes and best friends. Besides that, Lily was definitely the expert on guy issues, and Rose hoped this instance would be no different. Even though she was sure Lily would tease her for this, it was worth it if she gave her useful advice. Just as long as she didn't imply that there was still something going on between her and Scorpius. Because that ship had sailed long ago and there was no way it was ever coming back.

XXX

Within an hour, Rose heard a pounding on her door that just wouldn't stop. She had finally started to get ideas for her lesson plans, and now she had an interruption. Yes, she had skipped lunch but what that really a crime? Rose groaned, wanting to just continue working. But it seemed that she wouldn't have that option. She was going to kill Teddy, that much was already decided upon. Who else would be knocking on her door with such impatience? And Teddy Lupin was the most impatient man Rose knew.

"Shut up, Teddy, I'm coming!" she yelled, getting up and making her way towards the door. Then Rose finally opened the door and realized it wasn't Teddy. "Oh, Emily, I'm so sorry I just figured it was my cousin! What do you need?"

"Sorry I was practically banging your door down. But Flitwick sent me. Don't know why he didn't send an owl instead. In fact, think of me as your personal owl, I guess," Emily laughed.

"Okay, what does Flitwick want?"

"He called an impromptu staff meeting. So we're wanted in his office, right now," Emily said, grabbing Rose's hand and dragging her outside of her room, and into the hallway.

"Okay, okay, Em! I'm coming! I promise!" Rose claimed, laughing and rolling her eyes at the same time. They continued to walk at a hurried pace, going past numerous classrooms.

"I know! I just _hate_ being late. I mean, this might be super last minute on Flitwick's part, but-"

"Em, we'll be fine."

"Yeah, sorry," she said sheepishly. "I get a bit anxious sometimes."

"Don't worry about it. We all have our trigger point," Rose replied. "Besides, we're almost here."

Rose pointed to the gargoyles and Emily breathed a sigh of relief.

"I forgot how close your quarters were to the Headmaster's office," Emily said, her cheeks going a pink color.

Rose nodded and gave the gargoyles the password as they ascended up the staircase. They then knocked on Flitwick's door and it then opened.

"Ah, Madam Farrell you found Miss Weasley. Thank you very much. Please, take a seat," Flitwick motioned to two open seats on the left hand side of his office. They sat and Rose wondered who they were still waiting on. It was obvious that they would've started if Em and Rose had been the last two professors remaining Flitwick would have started already. Instead, Flitwick was chatting with Teddy. Rose looked around the room and counted; they were missing one professor. Rose glanced around the room again, and wondered who was missing. And then it hit her. How could she have forgotten for even a moment?

"Has anyone seen Mr. Malfoy?" Flitwick asked, ending the few conversations around the room. "I sent an owl out about 15 minutes ago."

Rose figured Scorpius was still sitting down at the Black Lake. But Rose remained silent. There was no way she was going to tell Flitwick, and by extension everyone in the room, that she had seen him by the Black Lake earlier today. Because that would lead to questions, questions she wouldn't want to answer.

"Sorry, Professor," Scorpius said running into Flitwick's office a few moments later. "I was at the far side of the Black Lake when I saw this and came as quickly as I could."

"Oh, of course, Mr. Malfoy. There's a spot open next to Mr. Lupin, why don't you take a seat?" Flitwick suggested. Scorpius nodded at Teddy and sat down directly across the room from Rose.

Flitwick stood at the front of the room and started speaking about proper protocol and safety measures. Although this was boring Rose to tears, she knew it was necessary. She continued to look at Flitwick, but Rose felt a pair of eyes on her. It was if she was being watched, like a predator stalking its prey. A chill went down her spine, and Rose knew she couldn't take it anymore. Rose glanced to her right and saw Scorpius staring directly at her, not even pretending to look away when she had caught him. Rose then decided to glare at him, trying to say _Why don't you pay attention to the meeting, dipshit?_ but she was pretty sure he hadn't received the message. Especially since he continued to stare at her with no intent of looking away. Had he been possessed? Petrified? Rose severely doubted either was the answer, so she couldn't understand why Scorpius was gazing at her like she had a giant spider on her face. Malfoy had done many stupid unexplainable things throughout the years, but this seemed to be high on the list.

So Rose decided that her only course of measure was to ignore Scorpius, like any rational person would do in this situation. But it seemed that as hard as she tried, there was a nagging in the back of her head telling her that she wouldn't be able to forget that Scorpius kept on looking in her direction. And then the other part of Rose wanted to know why Scorpius was messing with her. They weren't fifteen anymore, couldn't he find someone else to tease? Besides, what was the point of all of this, to piss Rose off? If so, his plan was working.

"And the house elves have asked us…" Flitwick's sudden increase in volume caused Rose to jump slightly, and exit her thoughts about Scorpius. Emily looked quite concerned and out of the corner of her eye she could see Scorpius smirk. Bastard. But Flitwick continued on as if he had not heard a thing. Realizing that her attempt at ignoring Scorpius was doing nothing to stop him, she turned her neck so her eyes were facing him once more, and quirked an eyebrow mentally asking him _why_. Receiving the message, he shrugged his shoulders and motioned up to Flitwick, as if to tell her to pay attention. So _he_ was allowed to not listen, but of course she needed to stay alert. Rose hated his hypocrisy almost as much as she hated him. "So I suppose that is all," Flitwick said ending. "I shall see you all later!"

Emily stood and then turned back to Rose who was still sitting. Rose motioned her along, telling Emily that she would catch up with her later and there was someone she needed to talk to. Although confused, Emily acquiesced and left Flitwick's office. Most of the professors were filing out of the office, including Flitwick himself who left muttering that he needed to have a word with Mrs. Norris. How Flitwick could have a conversation with a cat was beyond Rose, but she tried not to question Flitwick's logic.

Once Professor Longbottom had left, only two professors remained in the Headmaster's office. Rose had presumed that after the show Scorpius had just put on he would stick around and want to talk to Rose. For whatever reason was beyond her, but she knew that she had a lot to say to him, having already decided to damn her plan of ignoring him. She made her way to the other side of the room, stopping to grab a book on Flitwick's desk. Rose then smiled sweetly as she was only mere inches away from Scorpius. He eyed her curiously, watching how she gripped her wand in her hand as he attempted to guard the right side of his body from her. Rose then surprised him by whacking him on the back of his head with the book instead.

"What the bloody hell was that about, Malfoy?" Rose asked, finally unable to control herself from asking (and, you know, injuring him).

"Ahh, that bloody hurt! Be careful, I'm fragile," he exclaimed, grabbing the back of his head.

"Oh poor baby, just answer the damn question, Malfoy, I've already had enough of you today."

"You've never called me by my last name before, so please don't start now," he requested in a sickeningly sweet tone. But Rose realized that he was correct. Even before they had become friends, he had always been Scorpius to her, never Malfoy.

"I guess things changed when you decided to watch me throughout the entire meeting! Was there thought behind that plan or did your brain just shut off like it usually does?"

"Ahh, Rose, so I take it that you don't like being stared at either. Now you know how I felt earlier today," he replied calmly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking nonsense please!"

"I saw you glaring at me down by the Black Lake earlier and I didn't appreciate it, so I thought I'd return the favor."

Oh. At least in Rose's defense she was unaware that she had been glaring at him, but she wouldn't put it past herself to have done so. But she would never admit it out loud, of course. However, what Scorpius had done was stupid and childish. Not that he wasn't normally stupid and childish.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied. "Yes I went down by the Black Lake, but when I saw you there I knew it wasn't worth the aggravation to kick you out of my spot."

"I thought it was our spot, Rose," he whispered. Rose laughed at this. And it wasn't a normal Rose Weasley chuckle, but it was more of a combination between a snort and a scoff.

"There's no 'our' anymore. There hasn't been for a long time. Just stop acting so childish and leave me alone," Rose pushed past Scorpius and slammed Flitwick's door, leaving a reverberating noise. She had told herself that she wanted to put everything in the past when it came to Scorpius, and yet it seemed they were unable to do that. All Rose wanted was for them to act normal, like how colleagues were supposed to treat one another. Yeah, right like that would ever happen.

 **Thanks! Please review, favorite, and follow! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE**


	4. Act Like Normal People Do

**Hi everyone! Here is the new chapter! I wanted to get this out, so there might be a few typos here and there. Thank you for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! Keep it up! I especially want to know what you think about Scorpius and Rose. Are they too mushy? Too unemotional? Thoughts? I really, as dumb as this sounds, want to portray them as humanlike. They're by no means perfect and they have flaws. I want that to come across. Also, I'm trying to put song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter. Review/PM me with suggestions! :) Hope you enjoy the new chapter, and review, favorite, and follow.**

 _My heart is my armor,_

 _She's the tear in my heart, she's a carver,_

 _She's a butcher with a smile, cut me farther,_

 _Than I've ever been._

"Tear in My Heart" –Twenty One Pilots

Rose made her way to the Great Hall, ready to drink some coffee and shove some food down her throat before she would go back to her room to finish her book. After her latest argument with Scorpius, Rose ran back to her room and cracked open the latest book she had received from Hugo for her last birthday. It was so sweet for Hugo to buy her _Charms from the 18th Century_ and she had been so busy that she hadn't had the chance to read it yet. Although she still had lesson plans to finish, Rose knew that she needed to get her mind off of Scorpius and reading always did that for her. So last night Rose had read three quarters of the book before going to bed, and it was so riveting that she promised herself that she would finish the book after eating some food.

So now she was walking to the Great Hall with the goal of eating as quick as possible so she could retreat back to her room and discover the ending to one of the best books she had ever read. Rose took a seat and was happy to see a muffin appear in front of her. She took it and fixed her coffee with cream before taking a sip. Before long, Emily took a seat beside Rose and grabbed a muffin herself. The two of them then had a lighthearted discussion about what their plans were for the rest of the day. While Rose got excited talking about her book, Emily just rolled her eyes. It seemed that Emily was not the biggest fan of charms books. Emily then started complaining about all the potions she needed to restock today so they were ready for when the students came.

Then, all of a sudden, Emily turned her head so she was completely facing Rose and smiled at her. However, it wasn't a normal Emily sweet smile. There was something behind her look and Rose eyed her carefully.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" Rose asked, mouth full of muffin.

"Because, I just remembered what happened yesterday and I was just wondering what's up with you and Malfoy," Emily whispered, looking at Rose slyly. Rose's eyes bulged open and the remaining piece of the muffin that was still in her mouth fell out.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rose asked, turning her head to make sure Scorpius wasn't actually in the room. Knowing Rose's luck that would happen and Rose's day would be that much better.

"You two were practically undressing each other with your eyes last night at the meeting!"

"We were not! Scorpius was being an arse, like he always is! And there is no bloody way we were 'undressing each other' with our eyes! That's rubbish!" Rose replied, seriously concerned for her friend's mental health since she thought her and Malfoy had something going on. Yes, something had been going on in the past when they were just kids, but certainly not now. Emily was crazy.

"Really, Rose? You told me to leave so you could 'talk to someone.' C'mon! I won't tell anyone about whatever happened between you two after everyone else left Flitwick's office!"

"Em, seriously, nothing is going on between me and Malfoy! I swear!" Rose said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Ugh, fine, don't tell me," Em replied, slightly annoyed but teasing evident in her voice. "I'm smart, I can figure it out all by myself! And besides, you could cut the sexual tension between you and Malfoy with a knife!"

"There is nothing going on between us, I promise!" Rose yelled as Emily left to head back to the Hospital Wing.

Yeah, so that had been somewhat of lie. Well nothing was going on between Rose and Scorpius in the way that Emily thought, but Rose hadn't exactly told her everything about her and Scorpius. But, to be honest, Rose just wanted to put that all behind her and the best way to do that was not to tell anyone. Besides, there was obviously no sexual tension between her and Scorpius. Hatred, yes. Sexual tension, no.

XXX

Rose headed back to her room and was surprised to see her owl pecking on her window. She gave the owl a treat before grabbing the letter from its beak and breaking the seal. She smiled as she realized it was Lily's response to the letter she had sent her. Hopefully this would provide her with some much needed clarity.

 _Rose,_

 _WOW! Can I just say this is so ironic? You've completely blocked Scorpius out the past few years (and even banned us from bringing him up) and now you're forced to work with him. I don't want to say that karma's a bitch, but oh well. Of course this was bound to happen, even though I never knew he wanted to be a professor. Is he still as hot as he was when you two were dating? I mean, he's probably even more fit now, isn't he? Okay, so I might be getting a little off track._

 _Seriously though, I think you can handle it. I mean, it's been years since you've broken up. But don't hate me for saying it, I always thought you two left things kind of unfinished. Yes, he broke up with you, but you never got that closure. So it shouldn't be too bad, and hopefully the awkwardness will resolve itself. Unless you're not over him. Are you not over him? Because I think there's part of you that might not be. I know you're currently denying this in your head, but you know it's true. There's a reason why you've completely blocked him out of your brain. So I guess what I'm saying is if there's a chance for some hot professor shagging, TAKE IT!_

 _But if your goal is to actually just get past this animosity and awkwardness (please don't ignore the previous shagging advice) then you should just treat him like any other colleague. This is probably the best way to get over the weirdness you're facing when you're around him. Because if you're willing to forgive and forget your past with him and treat him like everyone else, then everything should be fine. You can do it!_

 _My job is going well. No, they're not actually taking my designs seriously yet, but hopefully I won't be getting looked over soon. I mean, it's not like I've been there for long. I know it takes a while to get into fashion, so I'm not giving up!_

 _Hope this advice helps, even if it kind of contradicts itself at points. And remember, don't forget what you actually want with Scorpius, and don't let the pain of your past decide for you. So if you want to shag him senseless, go for it!_

 _Love,_

 _Lily_

 _P.S. Don't worry, I won't tell Albus anything_

Rose rolled her eyes. Lily could be so crazy sometimes. She had no clue what gave Lily the idea that she wasn't over Scorpius, but that was ridiculous. Obviously she was over Scorpius, that much was obvious. She was just annoyed with how much of an arse he could be and how much she wanted to punch him all the time.

But Rose realized that she needed to be more patient with Scorpius. Lily's advice actually seemed somewhat sound: treat Scorpius like she would any other colleague. That seemed like something Rose could try. She wasn't going to let him rile her up and bother her so much. Even if he wouldn't, she would try and treat him like every other coworker. That was the plan. Rose didn't need to wait for Scorpius to treat her differently; maybe if she acted like a colleague to him, he would treat her the same way. Because Rose didn't want anything more to do with Scorpius than she would with any other professor. She just hoped that was the way it would be.

Yes, she was still frustrated and annoyed with Scorpius, but now she was going to try and put that past her. She would be the bigger person, even if he didn't plan on changing his attitude towards her. Rose was a grown woman; she could do this.

XXX

Rose was starting to get excited. She could not believe that in two days all of the students would start arriving. It sounded cliché, but her dream was about to begin, even despite all of the nightmarish things that had occurred since she had come to Hogwarts. However, Rose was thankful because she had somehow been able to avoid Scorpius for the past two days. No, she was not avoiding him per se, but let's say she was trying her best to not run into him. And for that, the past two days had been wonderful. Rose had finished her lesson plans last night and now had nothing to occupy her time until September 1st. Flitwick pretty much let the professors roam and do whatever they wanted, which Rose did not like. Rose craved structure, and at the moment she did not have it. But in two days she would finally have some structure. And Rose could not wait.

Soon enough Rose would be teaching her first class and she would actually be a professor. And she couldn't believe it. Rose would be teaching students in the hope that they will one day go into the world with the information necessary to survive. Rose wanted the students to grow to love charms like she does, and maybe inspire one of them to become a professor in the future. She wanted to have an impact on her students in the way her professors had on her. Although she was somewhat nervous for her first day, the anticipation was building. Rose wondered if all professors felt this way about their first days.

It was late afternoon and Rose thought it would be a nice surprise to visit Victoire. She hadn't seen her the past few days, and thought it would be nice to visit. Rose knew that sometimes Vic would complain about feeling cooped up at Hogwarts. Yes, she could leave whenever she wanted, but Victoire just wanted to be where Teddy was. And although Victoire occupied her time with writing, Rose thought it must be strange to live at a school and not attend classes or teach. But Teddy had always thought that it would be easier to just live at Hogwarts so he just had to wake up and teach. On the other hand, Teddy knew that Victoire was growing tired at living Hogwarts so they had compromised and decided that by next year they wouldn't live at Hogwarts anymore. Teddy had promised Vic that after this year they would find a flat in Hogsmeade. Rose was glad that they were all living under the same roof (even if Hogwarts had a large room) for at least one year. That made her happier, at least for now.

Rose turned the corner and saw Teddy and Victoire's door. However, she heard a scratching noise to her right and subsequently turned to hear what the noise had come from.

"Hello, Rose," Scorpius said, before she had a good chance to look at Scorpius.

And here it was. Here was her first test to see if she could actually put everything behind them and pretend to be normal, even if Scorpius didn't want to. She could do this. Rose was more than capable of treating Scorpius like a normal human being even if he didn't deserve it.

"Hello, Scorpius, how are you?"

That was a good start. Rose was trying.

"I'm fine. You know I'm surprised. I think this is the first time you've spoken to me and not had hostility in your voice," Scorpius replied.

Rose decided that she was going to try honesty. After all, even though she had thought so at first, when she was honest that night at the Three Broomsticks with Scorpius not everything had gone to hell. Honesty it is.

"Well, yeah, I've decided that I'm going to treat you like I would any other colleague. And I think I would ask my colleague how they are doing. So there."

"Wow, that's impressive. Maybe I'll try and take a cue out of your book and treat you normally. Oh wait, that's no fun," he said. Rose could only roll her eyes at this.

Then Rose looked down and saw Scorpius was drawing. She had forgotten that he liked to draw. It was a passion of his, like reading was her's. Rose remembered all of the drawings Scorpius had given her; many of the pictures were of her, but he also sketched beautiful nature scenes that she had loved so much. Rose always felt embarrassed when Scorpius would draw her; he would depict her in such a way that made her seem a thousand times more beautiful than she actually was.

Of course Rose had burned and ripped to shreds most of the drawings she had in her possession when they had broken up. It was only fair; how could she be expected to hold onto such wonderful works when she knew who had created them. Rose craned her neck down, trying to get a quick peek at Scorpius's latest sketch. However, before she could get a look at what he was drawing, he grabbed his sketchpad and slammed it against his chest, effectively hiding the picture from Rose. She huffed, wondering what the big deal was.

"What are you drawing?" Rose asked, thinking this was a relatively safe question. Yes, they weren't friends, and yes she still knew she hated him deep down, but she thought she had the right (as his colleague of course) to inquire about what he was drawing.

Scorpius looked up at her, puzzled, as to why she would want to know. However, not a moment later, a smirk broke out on his face. Rose groaned, knowing an idea was forming in his head.

"I'll answer your question, if you answer one of mine," he whispered looking directly into Rose's eyes.

"Scorpius, I feel like colleagues don't make these sorts of deals with one another."

"I know, Rose. But like I said, I'm not listening to your rules about how we should act around one another. So what do you say; a question for a question?"

Rose eyed him carefully. Undoubtedly, Scorpius Malfoy was an asshole. She didn't want to play these games anymore. However, her curiosity had taken over and she really did want to know what he was drawing. And he already knew everything embarrassing about her, so what really was the risk really that big? Rose knew that a little risk always offered some reward.

"Fine. What are you drawing?" she asked.

Scorpius turned his sketchpad around to show Rose. She unconsciously smiled as he was around half done with his picture of the Black Lake. And in the corner of the page, was the tree that Rose always sat at. In the corner, Scorpius had drawn her spot.

"I haven't been working on it too long," he whispered. "Hopefully I'll be done soon."

"It's beautiful. Merlin, I forgot how good your pictures are!"

Rose looked up at Scorpius, and there was a genuine smile on his face. Rose could not remember the last time Scorpius had smiled at her. Not a smirk, but a wide grin. Scorpius then sat his sketchpad down next to him. Rose now knew that her and Scorpius could act like colleagues and be cordial, and even friendly, to one another. She never thought this day would come.

"Okay. Now it's my turn." It suddenly got very quiet and Rose had to strain herself to hear Scorpius. "How long did it take you to get over me after we broke up?"

And their nice moment was gone. Just like always, Scorpius had to go and ruin it. She just wanted for one damn moment to forget her past with Scorpius and then he had to go and be an ass.

" _Really?_ REALLY? For one goddamn second I thought we could actually get past our twisted past and just pretend to be normal! That's all I want! And then you have to go and be an idiot. I'll see you later-" she yelled before Scorpius grabbed her arm.

"So how long did it take you?" he repeated, not forgetting that she hadn't answered the question.

"Damn it, Scorpius! Fine, it didn't take long, okay? I mean we only dated for six months!" she said, hoping her response was good enough for him. Even if she wasn't sure if it was actually the truth.

"Some people would consider that a long time. But thank you, that's all I wanted to know."

Rose glared at him, not forgetting that his hand was still holding onto her arm. He immediately let go, shrugging sheepishly.

"I'll be going now, just please don't bother me anymore-"

"Look, Rose, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that and Merlin, I can be an idiot. I just- I just wanted to make sure you're fine and everything because I know I probably haven't made things easy for you since we've been here, you know, being an arse and all. But I guess what I'm trying to say is, that I would like to act like your colleague. I would like it very much if we could, at some point, be friends," he ended, begging with his eyes.

He was actually sorry. Scorpius Malfoy had apologized to Rose. He recognized that in order to coexist at Hogwarts, they would need to stop acting like children. Friends would be pushing it, she couldn't after all forget everything he had done to her, but at least it seemed he had the right intentions. It just seemed so strange

"So, just to be clear, you want to act like normal people do around one another?" Rose wondered surprisingly.

"Yes," he replied. "That is what you want, don't you?"

"Yeah- uhh, I mean yes. Wow, umm, okay."

"Lost for words, Rose?"

"Just surprised is all. Didn't think you had it in you."

"I'm full of secrets and surprises, Rose. I'll see you later," Scorpius said before standing up and walking away.

And now Rose knew that she could not visit Victoire. She needed to sit down and process what had just happened. Her and Scorpius had just reached an agreement of sorts. It had been the longest time they had spoken without arguing. Well, scratch that, they still had argued, but that was different. Rose tried to be optimistic about this new development would work, but she wasn't getting her hopes up. At least it was worth a shot, even if she still hated him deep down.

XXX

 _October 31, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year._

 _Rose was looking for Scorpius. That didn't often happen because he seemed to be in one of three places: the library, the Great Hall, or the Slytherin common room. But having checked the library and the Great Hall, and asking a Slytherin if he was in the common room, Rose was stumped to where he could be. So, not knowing what the next logical step was, Rose wandered the halls hoping she would find him. They had gone on their first date less than a week ago, and yet Rose was already attached. She had never felt the want to be around someone so often, but when she was with Scorpius she felt a thousand times happier._

 _Rose knew she must be crazy. The effect Scorpius had on her, she had never felt like it before. But for now, Rose was happy. After finishing all the classrooms on the second floor, Rose made her way up to the third hoping Scorpius was there. She looked in two classrooms before she saw him sitting by the windowsill._

 _"Hi, how are you?" Rose said, kissing him on the cheek._

 _"I'm fine, how are you?"_

 _"Great! What are you doing?" she questioned, seeing his sketchpad._

 _"I'm drawing. I, uh, I like to draw," he said, sheepishly, trying to hide his drawing._

 _"Let me see!" she begged. "C'mon, please!"_

 _Scorpius seemed anxious, like it was some large secret. But then he looked at her and saw how much this meant to her, so he acquiesced. Scorpius turned the sketchpad around and Rose's eyes light up. She looked as if she had never seen anything so wonderful in her life._

 _"Scorp, this is amazing! Wow!" Scorpius seemed to be about half done, sketching the whomping willow. "When did you start drawing?"_

 _"I've been sketching since I was young. I don't know, it just calms me down and allows me to think. So sometimes I like to sit and draw so that I can escape." Rose took his hand._

 _"Do you just draw nature?"_

 _"No. I like to draw objects too. I've never done people before, but-" Scorpius started before his voice dropped off._

 _"But what?" Rose asked._

 _"But I'd draw you," Scorpius whispered. "I mean, if you wanted."_

 _"Really? I guess that'd be fun, but I might not be the best person to be your first model."_

 _"Why not?" he wondered._

 _"Well my face isn't exactly symmetrical. And all of my freckles are probably going to be difficult to sketch, and that mole on my neck isn't exactly attract-"_

 _"Rose, are you kidding me?" he asked incredulously._

 _"What?"_

 _"You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I mean, you're stunning, and I love your freckles and the mole. And besides, you're the only one I'd ever want to draw."_

 _Rose had never smiled wider. She couldn't believe that Scorpius had just said that. He had always been so sweet to her in the past, but this topped the list. Their first date had been less than a week ago, and yet to Rose it felt as if they had been together much longer._

 _Rose had been somewhat self-conscious growing up about her appearance. For Merlin's sake, three of her cousins were part Veela. But Scorpius made her feel beautiful. He really made her believe that she really was the prettiest girl on the planet._

 _"Okay. When you're done with your current picture, you can draw me. Whenever you're ready," Rose said._

 _"I look forward to it."_

XXX

It was raining. Rose hated the rain. Not only did force her to stay inside, but rain also meant that her hair would be even more wild than normal. And yes, that was possible. Deciding to be proactive, Rose pulled her hair up into a bun. Knowing that going outside was out of the question, she knew that she was going to stay inside.

Walking around the castle seemed to be Rose's new favorite activity. She had never roamed the castle this often when she was a student, and yet here she was on her way to the library once again. Rose had invited Emily, but she had declined, saying she really needed to write a letter to her younger sister before dinner. So Rose had wandered out on her own, hoping revisiting the library would remind her of all the late nights she had spent in there. If Rose was being honest, she had spent more time at Hogwarts than she had in her common room. It wasn't her fault that she was a straight O student! Studying had always been a priority of hers. At least it had all paid off when she was made Head Girl in her seventh year. That always gave Rose such pride, when she thought about it.

Rose walked through the archway of the library, making her way to the back corner. She sighed when she saw the table that had been hers for seven years as a student. Granted, at one point, it had been Scorpius's table, too. Although there was a numb pain when Rose thought about Scorpius, it was not as difficult. Yes, part of her still hated him, but it seemed that they were trying to get past their history. Would it last? Maybe not. But Rose sure hoped so.

She thought of all of conversations she had with Scorpius at this table, most of them were fond memories. From holding hands under the table while they were studying with Albus, to deciding to write letters to their parents to tell them they were dating, a lot had happened here. And despite the pain Scorpius had caused her, she wouldn't take any of it back. But then the longer Rose stared at the table, a strange memory came to the forefront of Rose's mind. How could she have forgotten such a conversation?

XXX

 _November 5, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose and Scorpius sat at their table in the library. They were trying to be quiet, but that didn't seem to be working. Although generally they were both insanely focused on their studies, it seemed that they were both somewhat distracted. Well, it wasn't Rose's fault that Scorpius kept rubbing circles on her knee! It was just so damn hard to focus! To be fair, Scorpius couldn't pay attention to his potions essay, knowing he was the cause of Rose's current red cheeks._

 _Albus, who had figured out that his cousin and her boyfriend weren't actually working anymore, had left ten minutes ago, resolved to find someone else to help him with his work. However, it seemed that Scorpius and Rose didn't mind and barely noticed that Al had left._

 _"So," Rose said, hoping Scorpius would stop so her face would come back to a normal color. "what did you get for number twelve?"_

 _She thought it was the best idea to focus on Ancient Runes, since Scorpius could help her with the subject._

 _"I thought we were working on potions?"_

 _"We were, but you haven't written anything down in twenty minutes, so now we're switching to Ancient Runes."_

 _Rose stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. In turn, Scorpius rolled his eyes and grabbed his Ancient Runes homework from his bag._

 _"Number twelve should be translated to 'the werewolf and the moonlight.'"_

 _"Mhmm, okay thanks. It's a good thing you're so good at Ancient Runes. I don't know what I'd do without you," she smiled, squeezing his hands._

 _"Well I'm going to need my Ancient Runes knowledge for when I become a curse breaker."_

 _A curse breaker. Rose was surprised that she had never asked Scorpius what he wanted to be when they were done at Hogwarts. Yes, he knew that she one day wanted to be a professor; she told people all the time of her future goal. But on the other hand, Scorpius didn't often open up and provide details like this. He had become more forthcoming with Rose recently, but it wasn't easy for him to change. He had always been closed off, but he was really trying. For Rose._

 _"You're going to be a wonderful curse breaker. I just know it!" Rose exclaimed._

 _He would be such an amazing curse breaker. He was intelligent, and especially brilliant at Ancient Runes. Scorpius was brave, patient, and good on his feet. In short, he would be great. Rose absolutely knew it._

 _Rose was happy, because it seemed that Scorpius would be as happy as she would be. Like they were now, together._

XXX

Rose sat down at the table she used to call her's. So many thoughts were going through her mind. Why was Scorpius no longer a curse breaker? After that discussion, he had continued to mention his ambitions about being a curse breaker while they were still dating. He had even met her Uncle Bill and talked about how to secure a job at Gringott's after his graduation. He had seemed so excited about the idea, like nothing could deter him from being a curse breaker. And now, he was a professor. She wanted to know what had happened, but she knew she couldn't ask. They were finally civil, for once, and Rose knew that this wasn't a pleasant topic she could discuss with Scorpius. Rose desperately wanted the truth, but she accepted she wouldn't know. Rose just wanted to know what had changed.

XXX

 **Hope you liked it! Please review, even if it's short. Let me know about the characters, their development, and the plot. Any predictions for future chapters? Oh and song suggestions for future chapters, please! :) Please review, favorite, and follow (and please review if you favorite or follow!). Thanks guys! Until next time.**


	5. Look Into Your Eyes

**Hi, I'm back! Here's another chapter. :) I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. Review, favorite, and follow. You can also follow me on Tumblr where I'm Teddy-Lupin-Head-Boy. I post a lot of Scorose drabbles there. Enjoy the new chapter!**

 _Look into your eyes_

 _And the sky's the limit_

 _I'm helpless!_

 _Down for the count_

 _And I'm drownin' in 'em._

 _-Helpless, Hamilton_

It was the first day of classes, and Rose couldn't believe it. The Welcoming Ceremony last night had been strange for Rose. Sitting at the professor's table at the front of the Great Hall, while all of students sat at their respective tables, just seemed odd. Rose tried to not cheer too loudly when a first year had been sorted into Gryffindor. Scorpius, who was on her right, would roll his eyes whenever Rose did this. However, she noticed that he clapped especially loud when a student was sorted into Slytherin. Hypocrite.

But Rose was happy. She had finally reached the point that she had been dreaming of for years. Her first class would start soon. She would finally be Professor Weasley. Rose grabbed her notes out one more time, reviewing the cheering charm she was going to be teaching today. Third years could handle cheering charms. She had taught herself cheering charms at the end of second year, and Flitwick had covered them in class in third year. She wanted her first lesson to be challenging, but not too difficult. After all, Rose did not want all of her students to hate her on the first day. She wanted to be a professor who was respected, but kind. And this would be the first of many days that would decide her reputation.

Yes, Rose was nervous but even more excited. She hoped some nerves that would go away once she sat down at her desk and her students would walk into the room. She thought back to her professors and wondered if they were this nervous their first day ever of teaching. They probably were, at some point and she made a mental note to ask Teddy. Then Rose thought about Scorpius and wondered if he was nervous. Of course, she could never ask him such a thing. And even if she did, he would just lie to her face and say "of course not." Merlin, he was such a prat.

Rose opened the door to the Charms classroom and propped it so it wouldn't shut. Yes, she still had twenty minutes before class started, but some students might want to get there early. She always got to class before anyone else.

About fifteen minutes later, students started to enter, and soon enough all the seats were filled. A smile creeped onto Rose's face, knowing this was it. It was time for her to start her first lesson.

"Hello, class. My name is Professor Weasley and I will be your Charms instructor this year. Now I remember not too long ago sitting in the same seats you were once sitting in, and my advice for you is to soak up everything you can. Charms is a difficult subject, but one you must master. Throughout the year you will be learning some difficult spells, but nothing you can't accomplish without some hard work, intelligence and determination. Charms is such a subject that allows you more leeway for personal creativity; however, if you cannot master the basics in this class, there is no way for your imagination to shine through. Professor Flitwick was a wonderful teacher, and I want to assure you that my instruction will not lessen in quality or merit. I have heard such great things about you, which means I have high expectations for all of you. Just because I am a new professor, do not think that I will allow any misbehavior or slacking off in my classroom. I have no problem assigning you to detention if the situation warrants it. I want to make it very clear, that my role is to help and to guide you. If you feel like you are falling behind or require assistance, I am always here. I will never turn down a student's request to learn and grow. So, before we start our first lesson, are there any questions?"

Rose was shocked when she saw almost every hand in the class was raised. She called on a blonde girl in the front row, hoping nearly every student had the same question.

"Hi, my name's Pearl MacArthur. I was wondering, what is it like having Harry Potter as your uncle?"

Rose could not believe that this was what she was being asked. For Merlin's sake, couldn't these students be professional and realize she was not here to talk about her uncle? She was their professor, and they should pay her the common decency of asking questions pertaining to Charms, and nothing else.

"Why I hardly think that's rele-" she began before being interrupted by a stout boy in the back of the classroom.

"Oh, is it true that your mother is running for Minister for Magic?"

"Well, it's hardly your-" Rose tried again.

"And Professor Lupin's part of your family now, right? Is it true he has a unicorn tattoo on his-"

"Is Albus going to play better this year? I bet all my galleons on his last year and just tell him he has to-"

And then all the voices really started to come together in one big group of stupid questions. Rose just wanted to grab a cup of coffee, curl into a ball, and cry.

"If I go to the joke shop and say I'm your student, do you think I'll get a discount?"

"Can you have Dominique autograph my book for me?"

"Do you think you can give me James's number? If not, what about Louis's?"

"Is your uncle actually a vampire or is that only just a rumor?"

"How often does Victoire-"

"And does Hugo actually eat-"

"ENOUGH!" Rose yelled, causing the madness to end. "Anyone who asks another ridiculous question will be subject to a month's detention. I refuse to allow you to act like a band of buffoons! Now, are there any questions that do not pertain to my surname or my relatives?" When she saw no hands, she continued. "Good. Let's learn about cheering charms."

X

Rose was practically skipping. It didn't matter that her hair was all tangled and kept falling on her face. It didn't matter that she had just noticed a small stain on her robes, and it didn't even matter that she had skipped breakfast. Because her first lesson had gone great! After she had yelled at all the students and they had finally settled down, they really were attentive. By the end of the class they had all, to differing degrees, mastered the cheering charm. She was so impressed that she let her class leave fifteen minutes early. Rose explained that they should not expect this in the future, but today, they had earned it.

So now she was headed to lunch, which would make the day even better. Food made everything better for Rose. But once she had headed towards the end of the hallway, she heard noise from the Ancient Runes classroom. Of course Scorpius would still be teaching. Well, this was Rose's chance to eavesdrop and see how good of a professor he actually was. After all, that was what colleagues did, right? They checked to see how their fellow colleagues were doing. And Rose was sure that most other professors would hide behind the door when they listened to their colleagues teach, like she was currently doing. That wasn't weird or anything. Merlin, she was practically a stalker.

"Alright, class. You have five more minutes to translate your section!" Rose heard Scorpius exclaim. "Remember, you're fifth years now! I expect a lot from you, and please, for the love of Merlin, don't mess up the Runespoor and the Hydra! I swear, they don't look that much alike."

Rose chuckled. Scorpius used to always tease her about switching the two runes. It seemed to be a common mistake, which made her laugh even more. Scorpius always said that only she would mix up the two. On the plus side, Scorpius appeared to be enjoying teaching. Maybe this was meant to be his profession after all.

X

Teddy stared at Rose as she gulped down another serving of the pudding. Rose had only sat down a minute before, and yet she had already had eaten two servings. The pudding, to Rose at least, was delicious, but Teddy preferred the chicken. He didn't want to be hungry again in five minutes like Rose would be. But Rose was off in her own world. She was still so happy with how her morning had went that it seemed that nothing could ruin it now.

"Can I sit here?" a voice requested. Rose looked up, saw it was Scorpius, and nodded. She suddenly started to eat the pudding a lot slower, not wanting to be judged by him. Teddy, having finished his food, nodded at Scorpius and patted Rose on the back before leaving the Great Hall. Rose wasn't sure if she wanted to kill Teddy for leaving her with Scorpius, or thank him, because she was bound to make a fool of herself and she'd rather do it without Teddy watching.

"How was your morning?" she asked, politely.

"Really good, how was yours?"

"Fantastic," she replied, smiling. "My class went really well! And the students were all so perceptive, even though they were learning a cheering charm already. I know it couldn't have been easy-"

"Well it's not exactly like Charms is too difficult," he replied, picking at his food.

"What the _bloody hell_ is that supposed to mean?" she whispered, glaring at Scorpius.

"Nothing," he said, sensing her anger. He was happy that they had been able to act cordial around one another, until he seemed to always screw it up.

"Look, you obviously meant something by it, so just say it!"

"I just meant, that, you know, Charms is always thought of as soft. Compared to some other subjects, it's not that difficult."

"Like hell it isn't!" she said angrily. "So it's easy, and yet you always seemed to need help with it, isn't that right?" Fuck being colleagues. She had always loved Charms and now he was attacking it. Well, that was a mistake. Rose would defend the subject like it was her own child.

"I did not need your help! I was an excellent student, need I remind you."

"Not excellent enough, it seemed. Not as good as me," she replied, not holding anything back.

"So what are you insinuating?" Scorpius asked, knowing exactly what Rose was going to say.

"I was Head Girl. If you really were the smartest, you would've been Head Boy. But you weren't so obviously you weren't as smart as you think you are."

Scorpius's ears were red, and he was pissed. There was no other way to describe it.

"Well, what you don't know is-" he started, before stopping himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're right, Rose. I'm not as smart as you. After all, who can compare to the great Rose Weasley?" He stood up and forcefully pushed his chair against the table. "I'll see you later."

Rose was shocked. Yes, she had gotten a little carried away, but what was he going to say? What the hell did it all mean? And she was so angry still. It seemed every day her and Scorpius took one step forward and then five backwards. It didn't matter that they were colleagues, they were still hostile to one another. And Rose hated it. She didn't want to admit she missed the witty retorts with Scorpius where not every word lead to disaster. Rose wished she didn't have to put her defenses up every time she was around Scorpius. Even if they got over their past, which would be practically impossible, Rose knew part of her would always hate Scorpius for what he did to her. Nothing could change that.

Her and Scorpius had both changed so much since their Hogwarts days. He had become much more callous and cross. He was not the same quiet boy who would kiss her nose. She had become much more intense and guarded. Rose was always aware, not allowing anyone to take advantage of her. Their experiences since their break up had changed them. Or was it their break up that had changed them? Neither knew the answer to that.

But she did feel bad for what she had said to Scorpius in the heat of the moment. She shouldn't have rubbed it in his face that she had been Head Girl and he wasn't Head Boy. To be honest, she had expected him to be Head Boy; in fact, almost everyone had expected Scorpius to be Head Boy. She almost had felt bad for him then. Almost

X

 _September 1, 2023 during Rose and Scorpius's seventh year_

 _Rose walked onto the Hogwarts Express and took a deep breath. This would be her last time on the train headed to Hogwarts. This was her last year of school before she had to enter the real world. She fixed her Head Girl badge as she walked to the prefect carriage. No one in her family was surprised when she was made Head Girl. If she was being honest, Rose wasn't that surprised either. Her and Scorpius had studied a lot the year before to ensure they would get the spots. Her and Scorpius. Rose had to laugh at that idea now that Scorpius had broken up with her._

 _It still hurt, a lot, when she thought about him. She had promised herself that by the end of summer she would be over him, but if she was honest she knew she still wasn't. She still loved him, even though it was clear that he didn't love her. And that's what hurt most of all, because Rose knew who would be sitting in the Prefect Carriage when she arrived. She knew Scorpius was going to be Head Boy and this year was going to be awkward as hell. And there was nothing she could do about it. She had wanted to be Head Girl so bad, and now she dreaded the thought of what being Head Girl meant. Really, it just meant more time with her ex-boyfriend. The man who had hurt her like no one else had._

 _But she would manage. They would manage. Rose was strong and brave –she wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing- and she would be able to handle Scorpius._

 _Rose was only a few feet away from the Prefect Carriage now. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply before pushing the compartment door open. She could do this. When she opened her eyes, Scorpius wasn't there. Instead, Ricky Hermisch was. And it made no sense to Rose, but she was ecstatic. Scorpius wasn't going to be Head Boy. Did that make her a bad person to be so happy that it wasn't Scorpius? She hoped not. All Rose could think was that she was pleasantly surprised. Very much so._

 _"Rose, how're you?" Ricky asked, pulling Rose into a hug. "I knew you would be Head Girl. Was a little shocked when I got the letter and the Head Boy badge. Always thought it would be Malfoy."_

 _"I don't know what you're talking about, Ricky," she lied. "I always thought you were going to get Head Boy. Congrats."_

X

A week later, Rose found herself strolling around the Black Lake with Emily. Em had claimed that they needed "exercise" and Rose had laughed at her. Turned out it wasn't a joke because twenty minutes later they were outside walking at a brisk pace. Bugger.

It's not that Rose minded the outdoors. It was just her hairy got frizzy. And she got sunburnt, which was never a fun experience. Plus she was clumsy, so that never really helped. Rose would just rather be inside, reading a book, maybe drinking some coffee. Was that too much to ask?

Suddenly Rose felt the need to pat her hair down after she felt a gush of wind. She looked up and saw that Scorpius was flying on his broomstick and had just flown slightly past the girls. Of course. Scorpius had always been an excellent flyer, but had hated Quidditch. He was practically a walking oxymoron.

"Oh look, it's Scorpius!" Emily exclaimed. "I didn't know he liked flying! He should have told me that he flies since-"

"Since what?" Rose interrupted, wondering why Emily felt she should know that Scorpius flies.

"Since nothing. Just we've talked a few times, and I thought he might mention it. Besides, I'm the nurse! It's always good to know these things."

Scorpius looked down and saw the two girls. He looked directly at Rose and nodded. As if she was in a trance, Rose could do nothing but stare back at him. Rose could feel her heart beating in her chest. She forgot that Emily was right next to her and that they were outside. For those few moments, it was just her and Scorpius as they gazed at each other. It was like nothing had changed and it was the first time she was looking into his eyes. She felt limitless. After what seemed like an eternity, Scorpius blinked and then flew away towards the other side of the lake. Rose had to shake her head numerous times in order to ground herself back into reality.

"Okay, WHAT was that?" Emily asked, grabbing Rose's shoulders and staring her down, not allowing Rose to look away.

"What do you mean?" Rose questioned, playing dumb.

"I mean I just witnessed some real eye fucking between the two of you!"

"Em! No, Merlin, there's no way Malfoy and I-I mean, come on!"

"At the very least, can't you admit he's attractive?" Emily begged, hoping this change in tactic would work.

"I don't find Malfoy attractive," Rose said.

"Okay, Rose, keep lying to yourself. So you're saying those stormy grey eyes, that platinum hair, and those biceps do nothing for you?" Emily started, not letting the conversation go. "You can admit it to me, I already know you think he's hot!"

Yes, Rose still found Scorpius very attractive. There was a reason she had dated him in the first place. But Rose felt awkward admitting it to her new friend. But the way Emily was looking at her, Rose knew that Emily already knew the answer.

"Fine. I, possibly, might find him slightly attractive. But just _slightly_. That's it."

"Sure, Rose, whatever you say. I'm just saying, there's so much sexual tension between the two of you. So. Freaking. Much!"

Then Rose started to laugh. She started to full out laugh to the point where her eyes were watering. Once she was done, Emily just rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Em. There's no sexual tension between us. You've said that before, but trust me. There's no way there's sexual tension between us, that's not possible anymore."

Emily then gave her a confused look. Rose sighed, knowing what she was about to reveal might be a mistake, but she liked Emily and even trusted her. Rose plopped down on the grass and pulled Emily down next to her.

"Fine, Em, I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you won't bring it up and you won't tell anyone."

"Fine, I promise."

" _ScorpiusandIusedtodate_ ,"she muttered quickly.

"Come again?"

"Malfoy and I used to date when we were students here at Hogwarts."

Emily jumped up and started squealing.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW THAT SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU! AHH I WAS RIGHT YOU GUYS DATED!"

"Shhhh!" Rose whispered. "Keep your voice down! Look, it's not a big deal. We dated in sixth year, so we're not exactly friends now."

"What happened?" Emily asked, sensing there was more to the question.

"To keep it short: I loved him, I thought he loved me, and then out of nowhere he broke my heart."

"Oh, Rose…"

"It's fine, I'm over it. But that's why I'm not Malfoy's biggest fan, and know you know why there's definitely not sexual tension between us."

"Sweetie," Emily began, grabbing Rose's hand, "He might've dumped you, but that was years ago. It's clear to me that he's sorry and he is obviously interested in you."

"Yeah right."

"No I'm serious. You know almost every conversation I've had with Scorpius you've come up somehow. Anytime he thinks you're not looking, he looks at you like you're the most beautiful girl on the planet. He clearly was an arse in the past, but Scorpius definitely has feelings for you now. And no matter how much you try to convince me against the fact, I know you have feelings for him too."

Rose didn't even dignify Emily's hypothesis with a response. Obviously she was delusional. She absolutely had no feelings for Scorpius anymore. Even though she did feel like she could fly when she looked into his eyes. She was helpless.

 **Hope you liked it! I'll try and post another chapter soon. Thoughts?**


	6. Mood Swings

**Hi guys! Sorry this chapter is kinda short, but I wanted to get this out there. I've really appreciated your reviews and love to hear your theories about the story. Please continue to review, favorite, and follow. I'll try to update pretty soon! Enjoy!**

 _I know I'm not the only one_

 _Who regrets the things they've done_

 _Sometimes I just feel it's only me_

 _Who can't stand the reflection that they see_

-Adele, "Million Years Ago"

The first two weeks of school went well for Rose. She was enjoying getting to know her students and it seemed they were enjoying their lessons for the most part. It was difficult for Rose to teach all seven grade levels, but it was worth it. Not all professors had to teach all grades, but Charms was important enough that students needed to start learning the subject the moment they entered Hogwarts. To put it briefly, she loved her job. Rose always trusted her gut and she was glad to know that she had been right: teaching was definitely for her. Plus, her students seemed to already be improving in their spell work, and it had only been two weeks!

Despite all the benefits of being a professor, the one thing Rose hated most of all was giving detention. She knew it was part of her job, and she would do it when necessary, but she wished all students had the enthusiasm at all times to learn. And she would appreciate it if they did their homework and didn't mess around in class. That was her dream, albeit impossible.

Even last night, she sat in her office as two students wrote lines. It was annoying for her too, but there was nothing she could do. And today, she had given three students detention. One, Martin Hendrickson, had fallen asleep in the middle of class. Honestly, who could fall asleep in Charms, it was so interesting!

As for Scorpius, Rose hadn't seen him much in the past two weeks. Ever since that day by the Lake, she hadn't had a real interaction with him. For a few days he didn't even show up to meals and she would've sworn that he wasn't at Hogwarts. It was almost like he was avoiding her. Not that Rose minded. The less she had to see him, the better. She could be civil around him, but it made her life easier if he wasn't around. The less effort, the better.

Now that she had told Emily about her past with Scorpius, it seemed like she wouldn't shut up about the topic. Rose had to glance around to make sure Scorpius wasn't there when Emily went on one of her daydreams about the two. But what Em obviously didn't get was there was nothing between her and Malfoy. What he had done to her was unthinkable and there would always be a wedge between them. And yet, when she saw him sometimes, she couldn't help but think about their past and how happy she once was.

Honestly Rose berated herself when her opinion continually switched like this. One moment she fully hated him, and the next she would smile and laugh in his presence. Rose wanted to be able to stand tall on her own, yet she felt pathetic.

Rose sat in her office, a cup of coffee in her hand. Yes, it was too late for coffee but she didn't care. She was grading papers on Cheering Charms. Since she had already planned for this to be on the end-of-year exam, so she hoped that the students understood it. These papers would be indicative of that or not. The first two papers had been graded, and she started to read the third when her door slammed open.

"Did you give Henrickson detention for tomorrow?"

Rose looked up and saw Scorpius standing towards the edge of her desk. She wore a confused look on her face, wondering why he would ask her such a question.

"Yes. He fell asleep in class."

"Well you can't do that!"

"Excuse me?" she replied, wondering what his problem was. She was able to give detention like any other professor.

"When you assigned him detention, did he not inform you that I already assigned him detention for tomorrow?" Scorpius asked, his voice getting angrier with every word.

"No, he didn't."

"Well, dammit, Rose, he should of!"

"Well, I'm sorry that he didn't tell me, but I'm not sure how this concerns me."

"He just came to my office, telling me that I had to switch his detention with him to another day," he said, the veins in his neck sticking out.

"He shouldn't have done that, but again, why are you here?"

Rose raised her eyebrows and remained calm. Scorpius was just acting really weird. He could often be annoying and get angry, but this was kind of ridiculous.

"What is your problem?" Rose asked, finally starting to get pissed at the situation. She crossed her arms across her chest and sighed.

"Just have detention with Hendrickson on Friday," he countered, not backing down.

"I can't. Besides he asked you to switch days, not me. Just do it on Friday or Monday. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't my problem."

"Come on, Rose," he rolled his eyes, "I gave him detention first!"

"No! This is so stupid, why are you fighting with me about this? What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Whatever," he muttered, slamming the door on the way out of her office.

Rose sighed. What was wrong with Scorpius?

XXX

 _Lily,_

 _How are you doing? Hogwarts is still amazing; I'm so happy to be back here. Plus the house elves make the most amazing cake. I'll probably gain 50 pounds before you see me next time. Also, Em says hi! I really think you would like her, you're so similar. Let's be real, you two could plot my embarrassing demise in minutes. Not that I'm encouraging you two to scheme together. But seriously, you should visit soon whenever you can get time off so you guys can mee!. Plus, I'm sure Teddy and Vic would love to see you too. So basically I miss you so much!_

 _Anyway, something weird happened today and I know you'll have an opinion on it (even though I'm sure I'll disagree with you). Malfoy just stormed into my office! Apparently we assigned the same kid detention for tomorrow and he demanded I switch my detention with the student to Friday. Of course I said no and he just continued to argue with me until he ran off. Like what the fuck? I honestly don't know what happened, it was so weird. I mean Scorpius can get angry, but he really was pissed for no reason at all. I've barely see him the past two weeks and then this happens._

 _Ugh, whatever. I just thought you might want to know and maybe you have some advice. Help keep me sane._

 _Anyway, hope to see you soon._

 _Rose_

XXX

 _October 1, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

Rose was just staring at him, and she couldn't help it. He was so smart, and funny, and handsome. Someone coughed and Rose blushed as she tore her gaze away from the other side of the Great Hall. Rose looked across the table and saw Lily looking at her like she was crazy. Lily motioned towards the door and stood up. Rose followed. Lily then dragged her into the bathroom and hit her on the arm.

"Ow!" Rose cried. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you? Why were you staring at the Slytherin table with googly eyes? You looked ridiculous, and trust me, a lot of people were noticing."

Rose's face flushed scarlet. The last thing she wanted to do was attract attention.

"I was not looking at the Slytherin table. I barely know anyone in Slytherin!"

"Oh, really? You've been hanging out a lot with Scorpius Malfoy lately. This doesn't have anything to do with him, does it?" Lily asked, but really she already knew the answer.

"Stop looking at me like that, Lil."

"Oh, would you rather me look at you the way you were ogling Malfoy?"

"Shut up!" Rose cried. Lily continued to glare right at Rose.

"I do not like Scorpius that way. Yes, we're friends but nothing more. I appreciate his intellect."

"I don't believe you. You think you're being subtle, but really you're being anything but that. Come on, just tell me."

Rose looked into Lily's eyes, hoping she could trust her. Lily did have a tendency to blab to others, but she would keep a secret if Rose asked her to.

"Fine, I might like him a little," she whispered.

"I knew it! Yes! Lily is right again!"

"Am I really that obvious?" Rose asked. "Do you think Scorpius knows?"

"No, I'm sure he doesn't. You're obvious to me because I know you so well, but I'm sure you're fine."

" _You can't say anything to anyone_! I mean it's obvious he doesn't like me that way, and at least we're friends. I'd rather be that than nothing."

"Rose, for someone so smart you can really be so stupid! Of course Scorpius likes you! Why do you think he always 'runs into you' at the library and he suggested you two be study partners. He totally has feelings for you!"

"You really think so?"

"Duh. I'm always right, Rose."

XXX

Rose sat in Vic and Teddy's living room, a cup of coffee in her hand. Vic, of course, had decaffeinated tea (her favorite) and made fun of Rose for her choice. It seemed no one else in her family had the same coffee addiction that Rose did.

"Did you finish grading all those essays you were telling me about?" Vic asked.

"Almost. I have a few left but I should be done by next week. Have you talked to Dom recently?"

"Yes, I wrote her a letter a few days ago and I just got a response. It seems that she's really enjoying France and it's providing a lot of inspiration. She hopes to finish her book by the Spring, but I'm trying to convince her to come home for Christmas."

After Dominique graduated from Hogwarts, she started to write novels. Dominique had always been creative, but her novels were on a whole different level. Her most famous novel was _Worlds Apart_ , where a witch falls in love with a Muggle banker and chooses to leave the wizarding world for him. It was critically acclaimed and Dom now had quite a fan following.

"That's great to hear," Rose replied. "You can tell her she has to send me a copy when she's finished! I'll try and send her a letter soon too."

Rose had loved _Worlds Apart_. She had no clue that Dominique had been such a wonderful writer until she read the book. Often when Rose wanted to relax, or was bored, she often cracked the book open and felt as if she was transported to another world. She knew Dom's next book was going to be just as amazing as her other's.

Rose told Victoire more about Emily, as Victoire had been down to the Hospital Wing a few times this year. Victoire then told Rose that she should invite Emily to come with her next time they had tea (and coffee) together.

"I think she would really like that," Rose replied. "After last time you were in the Hospital Wing, she couldn't stop talking about that necklace you were wearing."

Victoire giggled at this. The necklace had been a present from Louis for her last birthday.

"Is Teddy coming back soon?" Rose inquired. "I actually had a question for him." She had spent some time with him yesterday, but she had forgotten to ask about a certain student then.

"Yeah, he should be back-" before Victoire could even finish her sentence, the door opened. "Well, what do you know, we were just talking about you!" Victoire and Rose jumped up from their seats and walked towards the door.

But Teddy wasn't the only one to walk in the door. Scorpius followed in behind him.

"Oh, hello, Scorpius," Vic said civily. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. It seems I left my jumper here last week." He then saw Rose and seemed to shrink inward, unable to hold her glance.

"Here you go, mate," Teddy said, handing Scorpius his jumper.

"Thanks. Now that I have this, I'll be going."

"Are you sure you don't want some tea?" Victoire offered.

"No thank you. I'm sure see all of you around soon," he said before leaving.

Once the door shut there was silence in the room. Victoire and Teddy glanced at each other, unsure of what to say to Rose.

"So," Rose started while glaring at Teddy and Vic, "You're friends with Scorpius now?"

"Look, I don't have to explain it to you, Rose," Teddy said, remaining calm.

"He really isn't that bad!" Victoire contributed.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, but I just thought that you would tell me or something," Rose said. She brushed her hair out of her face, as she tried to understand the situation at hand.

"Well I didn't know how you'd react. You might've been pissed or not have cared at all. And you've been happy the past few weeks, so I thought I wouldn't ruin it."

"And besides, I just don't get it. You never seemed to be a fan of him before. What changed?"

"And maybe every a little different now. I mean, he's the only guy here that's close to my age and we have a lot we can discuss."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Rose asked defensively.

"You might've forgotten but we're actually related. And we talk about Quidditch and other stuff. We have a lot in common."

Rose had no response for this. She never had thought that Teddy and Scorpius would be friends. It just made no sense to her at all.

"Look, despite what happened between the two of you, he's not a bad guy. And besdies, you have Vic, Uncle Neville, Emily, and I here, but Scorpius doesn't have anyone. I just don't want him to feel like he's alone."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm sorry, but you know I always get weird with things involving Scorpius."

Rose knew she shouldn't get upset by things like this, but she was. Some part of her would always be bothered by Scorpius. And yet there were other parts of Rose that didn't feel that way at all. Sometimes Rose wanted Scorpius to have no friends, and other times she didn't want him to be lonely at all. And if she was feeling brave, she would admit that she was the one that wanted to be with him all the time. Rose just felt like a big conundrum.

XXX

Rose put her Canons shirt and pair of ratty shorts on before getting into bed. The lights were off and she closed her eyes. And, of course, just moments later, there was a knock on her door.

"Oh come on!" she groaned.

Yes, she was going to bed earlier than usual, but no one should be knocking on her door now. Rose continued to curse under her breath as she turned the lights on and made her way to the door. Grumbling one last time, she opened the door and was extremely surprised to see Scorpius there. His eyes opened wide when he noticed Rose was in her pajamas and now was probably not a good time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were probably asleep I wouldn't have come by if I-" he started before Rose shushed him.

"It's fine. What is it?"

"I just wanted to apologize," he said and Rose's eyes widened. "Don't look too surprised. I know I wasn't exactly kind yesterday with that whole detention ordeal. I shouldn't have stormed in and yelled like that."

Rose nodded, even though she was very surprised that he had come to apologize. Yes, he was in the wrong for yesterday, but still. Maybe Teddy was right and he wasn't as bad as he seemed. Teddy was one of her favorite people in the world. If he could be friends with Scorpius, then Rose could try to forgive him.

"I know we've had a lot of up and downs already this year and I just wanted you to know that I recognize that my actions yesterday were a mistake. I got very angry at you and obviously that shouldn't have happened. So I hope you can forgive me," he said, begging with his eyes.

"Of course," she hesitated, "But if I could ask, what was wrong yesterday? I mean, like you said, the detention thing wasn't a big deal at all and you just went apeshit. Are you okay?"

Rose asked partially because she was concerned, but also because she was very curious. And Rose could never curb her curious nature.

Scorpius paused, as if unsure of what to say. He brushed his hand through his hair, almost as if he was nervous. He blinked a few times before responding:

"I'm fine, I swear. I just can have some, uhh, mood swings some times."

"Mood swings?"

"Yep."

"And that's common?" Rose asked, very confused.

"Sometimes, it's not really a big deal," he said, hoping Rose would accept it and let them move on from it. "Alright, now that I've said my piece I'll let you go so you can sleep. Goodnight, Rose."

"Goodnight, Scorpius."

Rose shut her door and retreated back into her bedroom. So he had mood swings. What the hell did that mean? Was that really it? But she was also happy that he had come to apologize. At least he recognized that they needed to move in a different direction than always fighting. But anytime she thought that she could get past her anger, she got confused by him. It seemed there was no way of getting past the mystery that was her ex-boyfriend.

 **Please review, favorite, and follow. I really want to know your thoughts! :)**


	7. Memory

**Hi guys! I know it's been a really long time, but I thought I'd put this next chapter out there. Hopefully I'll update again soon. :) Please review and let me know your thoughts and predictions for future chapters! Thanks and Happy Holidays!**

 _We're sailing, we're sailing every night_

 _We're drifting, we're drifting alone apart_

 _Not to show that we're in need_

 _But I'd heal your wounds if you bleed_

 _-Alone Apart, by Swell Season_

The next few weeks of classes went by quickly for Rose. She knew that teaching was her passion, and she was enjoying every moment of it. And, finally, Scorpius and her seemed to be cordial. Yes, they wouldn't go out of their way to hang out with one another, but they could have a casual conversation without any animosity and heated looks. In short, Rose was happy she could have a normal relationship with all of her colleagues, Scorpius included.

But Emily had been making things somewhat awkward between Rose and Scorpius, as she had constantly been trying to get the pair alone together. Whether it was owling them both to come to the Hospital Wing at the same time, or only leaving two seats next to each other available, Emily was getting more creative with each passing day. Despite Rose's urging that things were finally semi-normal between her and Scorpius, Emily was continuing to make life difficult. In Emily's mind, if Rose and Scorpius spent enough time in each other's presence, they eventually _had_ to acknowledge their "feelings" (which were nonexistent according to Rose). But Rose was getting tired of Emily's antics, and she hoped there would be a reprieve today.

Thankfully it was a Saturday, so she had some time to relax before the first Quidditch match later. Thinking about the sport brought back memories from when Rose was a student. Although she was abysmal at playing, Rose always loved to sit in the stands and cheer Gryffindor on. It was a plus that she was related to half of the team! Before Rose could really get lost in her thoughts, she heard the roaring from her fireplace, meaning someone was entering through the floo network. Very few people had access to Rose's fireplace, but she still brought her wand as she went to inspect who had just arrived. When she realized it was her cousin Albus, who was dusting floo powder off of his head, Rose couldn't help but break into a grin.

"Al! What a surprise! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Hi, Rosie," he said, giving her a hug. "I don't have long, I have practice in a few hours, but I thought I'd stop by for a bit. How are you?'

"Oh, I'm good," she explained, motioning for them to sit. "The school year has been going by so quickly, I can't believe we're a month in. And I can't complain about the students."

"Can you complain about any of your colleagues?" Al asked cryptically.

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, you have no complaints about anyone you work with? Say, Scorpius Malfoy, for example."

Oh shit. Rose had forgotten that she had sworn Lily to secrecy so Albus wouldn't know that her and Malfoy were working together. Rose was afraid of Al finding out because unlike Lily, who encouraged Rose to jump Scorpius's bones at every given moment, Al would not be pleased.

"How'd you find out he was also teaching here?" Rose asked.

"Lily let it slip last night when we were having dinner. Needless to say I was surprised, especially since I hadn't heard it from you."

Albus had firsthand seen the effects of Rose and Scorpius's breakup, and he had never truly forgiven Scorpius for shattering Rose's heart. Albus, before and while Rose and Scorpius were dating, had always been cordial and kind to Scorpius; however, after Scorpius ended things, he was extra protective of Rose.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I knew you wouldn't be happy and you'd worry, so I thought I'd wait for as long as possible to tell you."

"Rosie, you don't need to worry about me being stressed out. I'm more worried about you! Has he done anything to you? Have you two even spoken?"

"Yes," she sighed, "we've spoken, and we're pretty cordial to one another. Really, Al, it's fine. We barely see each other or interact."

"I don't know. Just let me know if you need anything; I'm always here for you. I don't want you to feel like you can't stay here just because of him. This is your dream job, so you can't let Scorpius Malfoy of all people drive you out of Hogwarts."

"That would never happen! Besides, we're merely colleagues; he could never hurt me again like he did before, if that's what you're concerned about," Rose finished, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I just worry about you. You know that," Albus said.

"Look, I have no interest in Scorpius Malfoy or anything he says or does."

"Not to sound like Lily, but I don't believe that. There will always be something between the two of you, so just don't get too involved. I won't stand by and let you get hurt again."

Rose wanted to argue that she could handle the situation herself, if a problem did arise. She wanted to tell Albus that even if Scorpius somehow did wind up destroying her again, she would deal with it. But Rose knew how much she had relied on Albus after Scorpius had dumped her, so she wasn't sure if her thoughts were actually true.

XXX

 _April 23, 2023, during Rose and Albus's sixth year_

After Scorpius had ended their relationship, Rose had retreated to the kitchen so no one would find her. As she continued to sob, the house elves would attempt to bring her food, and Rose would shoo them away, not wanting them to be bothered. Rose didn't even go back to her room that night, she merely stayed in the kitchens. By the time it was morning, Rose wiped her tear stained eyes and grabbed another tissue. However, before she throw away the tissue, she heard someone shuffle and sit next to her.

"Rose, are you okay? None of us could find you anywhere, and we started to get worried."

Rose was glad that Albus had been the one to find her. She couldn't imagine what she would say if it had been someone else, like Hugo or James.

"Scorpius broke up with me last night," she whispered. New tears started to trickle down her face, as she said the words aloud for the first time.

"I'm so sorry. I thought everything was going very well between the two of you."

"S-so did I," she said through quiet sobs. "He g-gave no explan-nation whatsoever. What's wrong with me, Al? I was really happy with Scorpius, and I just d-don't get it. I mean I've told him that I loved him, and he's said it to me too. Was it all just a lie?"

"I don't know, Rose. I don't know."

Albus continued to rub Rose's shoulder and she leaned her head on him, all as she continued to cry. Rose thought she had run out of tears, but talking to Albus just brought up all the emotions she had felt less than twelve hours ago.

Al had no words to remedy the situation and there was nothing he could really do. But he would ensure that Rose would be okay, no matter how long it took and no matter what the cost. Because Rose was his cousin and best friend, and he would show her she was stronger than this, and she deserved much better than Scorpius Malfoy.

XXX

"I'm glad we got to talk, Rosie. I have to get ready for practice, but we should get together soon. Maybe grab a drink at the Three Broomsticks sometime soon."

"That sounds great!" she said, enveloping Albus in a hug. "I'll owl you soon and we can figure out a date."

"Okay. I love you, Rose, and just take care of yourself," Albus said before entering the fireplace and disappearing moments later.

Albus had been the person who helped Rose pick up the pieces after Scorpius left her. During the summer between their sixth and seventh years, Albus was always around, knowing it wouldn't be best to leave Rose alone to her thoughts. Looking back, Rose wasn't sure if she would have been okay without Albus. He was truly her rock, and she was thankful for all that he had done for her in the past. But now they were adults, and Rose wanted to handle her issues herself.

XXX

After Albus left, Rose sat in her office grading papers. She had thought she would just relax before the Quidditch match, but all of a sudden Rose had gotten the urge to be productive and finish her work. While Rose was in the middle of reading Janice Belby's paper, there was a knock on her door. She walked to the door, wondering who wanted to see her. She was surprised to see Mitchell Laurence, a Slytherin sixth year. Mitchell was by no means a star student, and it was abundantly clear to Rose that Charms was not Mitchell's favorite subject. He tended to not pay attention in class and would often forget his homework. However, Mitchell was not one of Rose's worst students, so she never really worried about him.

"Mitchell, how can I help you?"

"Hello, Professor. I was wondering if I could ask you something," he said.

"By all means," Rose replied, motioning for him to take a seat.

"Thank you. Now, as I'm sure you know, Charms is one of my favorite classes and I really am fascinated by everything we have learned thus far."

Rose's jaw dropped, as she thought this must all be some big joke.

"I'm sorry, I just had no clue you were actually interested in Charms," Rose said, only believing half of what Mitchell was saying.

"Of course I love Charms! This and Ancient Runes are my favorites. And because of that, I was wondering if I could embark upon an additional project this semester that combines my interest in both subjects."

"What?"

"I want to work on an additional project that involves both Charms and Ancient Runes. In order to do this, I think I would need to meet with you and Professor Malfoy, together, at least once a week; however, I think the more time we are all together, the better."

"I admire the thought behind this project, but I question why it is even necessary. Do you not feel that you are being challenged in my class? Because, to be blunt, I feel your test scores and essays indicate that the difficulty of my lessons are enough to keep you busy this year. I would hate to overload you," she stated. "However, if you are interested in Ancient Runes, I would recommend you discuss working on an Ancient Runes project this year with Professor Malfoy. He might be more receptive to the idea."

"I'm sorry, Professor Weasley, but I'm only interested in projects that _combine_ and would involve _both_ Ancient Runes and Charms. I would like to work with both you and Professor Malfoy, together. I think it would be very beneficial," he insisted.

Now Rose was really puzzled. What was Mitchell getting at here? Charms and Ancient Runes really do not involve one another, and Rose could not even think of a hypothetical project that would involve both subjects. And why was he so insistent on him, Rose, and Scorpius all working together?

"I'm sorry, Mr. Laurence, but could you please explain the _real_ reason why you want to work on a joint Charms and Ancient Runes project, and only this? It seems there must be some ulterior motives at play here."

Mitchell looked down at his feet, not wanting to reveal his thoughts. But Rose gave him a stern look, indicating she would find out one way or another.

"Well, you see, Professor, I like both you and Professor Malfoy very much. And in the time I've been in both of your classes, I've come to the conclusion that you and Professor Malfoy are very compatible. So, I thought if I said I wanted to work on a project that involved both of your subjects, I could push you two to realize how well you'd be together. You know, _romantically_."

With this, Rose burst out into laughter. It was one thing for Lily or Emily to think that her and Scorpius would be a good couple, but it was completely different for a student, who had never really seen them interact, to think so.

"I assure you, Mr. Laurence, that I have no romantic interest in Professor Malfoy, nor does he in me. And I think such a conclusion is preposterous, and I cannot help but chuckle."

"I've just seen the few times you've interacted in the Great Hall, and your teaching styles are similar, and-"

"Now, Mitchell, I'd be inclined to take off House points for saying such things to a professor, especially about her personal life; however, I find your plan humorous enough to let you go with a warning. However, I do not want to hear such nonsense again. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, professor," Mitchell said, getting up to leave Rose's office. Yet the glimmer of mischief was still in his eye, worrying Rose that this would not be the last of the matter.

It was funny to Rose that a student thought that her and Scorpius were compatible, especially since they had been in the past. But, Merlin, Rose hoped she hadn't been this stupid as a sixth year. And really, meddling in a professor's personal life was uncalled for and off limits!

XXX

Emily and Rose walked together to the Quidditch Pitch, excited to see the match. On the way there, Rose couldn't help but tell Emily about Mitchell Laurence's ridiculous plan and how it had fallen apart before it had even started. Emily, still crazily believing that Rose and Scorpius were "soulmates" (or some other ridiculous nonsense) thought the idea was cute and could possibly work. Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes at all of this.

"Really, Rose! I don't think you realize how similar you and Scorpius are. And, especially for someone that 'just wants to be colleagues,' you sure do talk about him a lot," Emily said.

Rose started to protest, but Emily interrupted her. "But, don't worry. Scorpius talks a lot about you too! Just shows you guys should be together!"

Rose gave Emily a look, wondering when Scorpius and Emily saw each other besides at meals, let alone when they had time together to talk. Before Rose could ask, Emily changed the subject as she tried to find them a seat in the faculty section. Emily found an open bench, and Rose looked around, trying to find Victoire and Teddy.

"You haven't seen Vic and Teddy, have you?" she asked Emily.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that they're not coming to the match today."

"Why not?" Rose wondered. It was awfully strange for Teddy to miss a game.

"They're at St. Mungo's-"

"What?!" Rose interjected. "Merlin, are they okay, why didn't they tell me?"

"Calm down, they're fine. I just couldn't give them the proper medical care, because it's not, uh, my specialty," Em replied.

"What the hell does that mean?" Rose said, confusion etched on her face.

"You're smart. You'll figure it out. Oh, Scorpius! We have room by us!" Emily yelled, noticing Scorpius was looking for a seat. As everyone had heard Emily, Scorpius made his way over to the pair, not knowing what else to do.

"Hi Emily, Rose, how are you?" Scorpius said, sitting down next to Emily.

"I'm fine, thanks," Emily replied. Rose said nothing, merely nodding once at Scorpius. Emily let a few seconds go by before she exclaimed, "Oh no! I forgot that I have, uh, a thing that I need to do right away. And although I would love to watch the Quidditch match, I have to leave right now!"

Rose rolled her eyes, knowing this was another one of Emily's schemes and she was fooling no one. But despite her protests, Emily insisted that she needed to leave, and she would not accept either Rose and Scorpius leaving with her.

"So I hope you two enjoy the game, and I'll hear all about it later," Emily said, giving Rose a wink before she ran off.

There were a few moments of silence between Rose and Scorpius, neither knowing what to say to the either.

"So, are you ready to see Gryffindor get obliterated by Slytherin today?" Scorpius asked, grinning.

"In your dreams, Malfoy. We all know who's going to win the match today. And besides, we're not supposed to show favoritism to a particular team."

"We both know that no one cares about that rule. Besides, I know you're going to clap extra loud when Gryffindor scores, just like you used to do," Scorpius said, muttering the last part of the sentence.

"You mean just like how you flinch and shake your head when a team scored against Slytherin. I can't wait to see that again," she teased.

"We both know which one of us will get more upset if their team loses. So let's say, in a weird way I hope Gryffindor wins, so I don't have to hear about it for the next month." Rose giggled, knowing it was true. "And besides, you complain enough since the Canons lose _all the time_ ," Scorpius continued, "so maybe one of your teams deserve to win a game for once. If only it was possible."

Rose was somewhat shocked because she realized Scorpius had remembered that her favorite team was the Chudley Canons. Much like her father, she had supported them since she was a child.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked, seeing Rose was suddenly distant.

"Yeah, I'm fine. To be honest I'm just surprised you remembered I liked the Canons. That's all."

Scorpius took a moment to compose his thoughts before he responded: "Of course I remember, Rose. I haven't forgotten anything about you, despite what you may think. You will always be ingrained into my memory."

Rose opened her mouth, hoping something intelligent or insightful would come to mind. However, before words could come out, the whistle blew to indicate the start of the match. Rose turned her face so she was facing the pitch with Scorpius in her peripheral vision. She did not know what to say to him, so they sat silently throughout the entire match.

After it was over, and Gryffindor had won, Rose rushed out of the stadium before Scorpius could say anything else to her. _She would forever be ingrained into his memory._ What was she supposed to say in return, and what the hell did that really mean? Rose wanted to forget about it, but she knew that was impossible.


	8. The Kiss

**Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I think it's my favorite so far. The song is really applicable and I drew a lot of inspiration from it when I heard it. Let me know what you think and predictions for future chapters!**

 _(Do I wanna know?)_  
 _If this feeling flows both ways?_  
 _(Sad to see you go)_  
 _Was sort of hoping that you'd stay_  
 _(Baby, we both know)_  
 _That the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day_

 _Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys_

Before Rose could even make it back to her living quarters, she was ambushed by Emily. Rose rolled her eyes, knowing Emily was quite ridiculous. Her plan of leaving so Rose and Scorpius could have alone time was ridiculous. Nothing had happened between them. Well, nothing _really._ Technically, he had said something that confused Rose beyond belief. _She would forever be ingrained in his memory._ What the fuck did that actually mean? And why did she care so much anyway?

"So?" Emily started, breaking Rose from her thoughts. "Did anything _interesting_ happen at the match?"

"For your information, no. Your plan failed, Em. Nothing happened between Scorpius and I."

"Then why are you blushing like mad?"

Damnit. Rose's fair skin always gave her emotions away.

"I'm not blushing," Rose denied.

"Bullshit. So what happened?"

"Nothing really. Just-ahh nevermind."

"What happened?!" Emily was on edge, hoping something amazing had occurred.

"Well… Before the match we were talking. And then Scorpius told me something."

"WHAT DID HE TELL YOU?" Emily grabbed Rose's shoulders and started shaking her.

"He just said that he hasn't forgotten anything about me, and I'll always be ingrained into his memory. A little creepy, right?" Rose joked.

Rose was overthinking this. What Scorpius said meant nothing. Besides, it's not like she had forgotten things about Scorpius. She just didn't tend to vocalize these things.

"No. I think that's really sweet."

"Okay, sure, Em. It's just a little confusing, that's all. I mean, I don't know what he's thinking. But that doesn't really matter anyway. He was just being friendly. No big deal."

Emily just continued to give Rose a look that said _everything you're saying is bullshit._ But for once, Em didn't push Rose. She merely gave Rose a hug, started to head toward the Hospital Wing, allowing Rose to live in her fantasy world. It was obvious to her that there was something between the two of them, but Emily was going to be patient. Or else her plan could fall apart.

* * *

 _October 27, 2022. During Rose and Scorpius's sixth year._

Today was the day. Scorpius and Rose would be going on their first date, and Rose was beyond excited. Rose was surprised that Scorpius had asked her out, and she was nervous. Their friendship had grown so much in the past year. The last thing she wanted was for something to go wrong and to lose Scorpius forever. But Rose couldn't think that way. She had a feeling that the day would go well, and hopefully, there would be many more dates to look forward to.

Rose put her jacket on and headed toward the Great Hall, where her and Scorpius had agreed to meet. She saw him standing by the Gryffindor table, and instantly a smile was etched on her face. He gave her a smile back as they met in the middle of the hall.

"Hi, how are you?" Scorpius asked, giving her a quick hug.

"I'm good. Are you ready to go?"

"Yep! I have our whole day planned. I thought some tea and cupcakes from Madam Puddifoot's would be delicious. That's personally my favorite place in all of Hogsmeade! I know they're doing a 'Buy Pink' Special where if everything you buy is pink, it's half off. Plus, if we finish there before the day's over, which I doubt, I figured we could always just come back early. How does that sound?"

Rose attempted to plaster a fake smile on her face, but this all sounded _horrible._ Madam Puddifoot's was her least favorite place in Hogsmeade. In fact, that was the only store Rose refused to go to. After seeing all the pink through the window, Rose had decided to never step foot in that place, and she really didn't want to break that promise today.

"Well," Rose started trying to sound fair, "I think, umm, that sounds, uh-"

"Rose," Scorpius said while laughing, "I'm just kidding! I know you _hate_ that place and so do I. Please, that sounds like the worst date ever."

"Merlin, you scared me for a second!" Scorpius continued to laugh. "You think you're so funny, Malfoy. Two can play at that game," Rose teased.

"But in all seriousness, I thought we could just walk around the village, and go into whatever stores strike our fancy. Good?"

"As long as we don't go to Madam Puddifoot's, I'm counting today as a success."

With that, they took off. Rose first wanted to go to Zonko's to stock up on her chocolate collection. From the stress of a few exams from last week, she had severely depleted her stock pile. When Rose went to check out, Scorpius was astonished, not believing that she would actually eat that much chocolate. Rose laughed, telling him to wait and see. Ever the gentleman, he offered to pay. However, since _she_ was the one getting the chocolate, Rose insisted that she use her own money. It was only logical, after all. Scorpius chuckled, muttering something about this is why he liked her in the first place.

"Where do you want to go next?" Scorpius asked.

"I was thinking the Three Broomsticks. I could use a butterbeer, and it might be a nice place to sit and chat for a while."

"Sounds good. By all means, lead the way!"

Scorpius was so excited to be on this date with Rose. Whenever they were together, he felt butterflies in his stomach (even if that wasn't something a Malfoy would say). He couldn't believe he had actually asked her on a date, and beyond that, he couldn't believe that she had actually said yes! Now he wanted to make sure he didn't screw anything up today because he definitely wanted to go on another date with Rose. It didn't matter that they'd only been on _this_ date for approximately 20 minutes. He knew that Rose would definitely be in his long term future.

After the pair finally left the shop, they headed to the Three Broomsticks. While they were looking for a seat, they were ushered over to a corner by Albus Potter and his date, Tabitha Wade. Seeing no other empty seats, and wanting to spend some time with her cousin, Rose and Scorpius sat with them. Albus asked Scorpius about his classes and how his year was going. The two had never been friends, but they were definitely friendly. However, they didn't have too much in common, which made conversation a little difficult. Albus was a Quidditch fanatic, while Scorpius would rather watch than play. While he was fantastic on a broom, he was not a big fan of the sport. Rose smiled as she listened to Scorpius answer Albus's questions, although she knew that he would rather just sit with her and joke around with each other. But he was doing this for her, which was sweet.

Scorpius went to buy everyone another round, and Albus and Rose got into a conversation about their Uncle Percy.

"I'm not saying he's wrong," Scorpius heard Rose say as he levitated the drinks onto the table, "I'm just saying Uncle Percy doesn't have to be so pompous all the time! Really it makes him lose his credibility."

Scorpius couldn't help but stare at Rose. She was just so beautiful, but that didn't even really matter to him. When she was making a point, her eyes light up, showing how passionate she truly was. And she was so goddamn smart; Scorpius had to work so hard to merely _tie_ her on most exams. So he wasn't shocked when his body took over and grabbed Rose's hand under the table. Realizing what he had done, he tried to pull it away, but Rose held on and gave him a little squeeze. He smiled, knowing today was a special day.

Scorpius walked Rose back to the Gryffindor common room. The entire time they were walking, a little voice in Scorpius's head kept saying _kiss her!_ But he continued to lose his nerve. By the time they got to the portrait, Scorpius wasn't sure if he was going to go through with it or not.

"Well, this is my stop," Rose started. "Thank you for such a wonderful day, Scorpius."

"Thank you! I had a really great time, and I'd love to go out with you again, if you'd like."

"I'd like that very much. So I guess I'll probably see you at some point tomorrow."

"Most likely."

Then they both stood there, in front of the portrait; both were unsure of what to do. Realizing Scorpius wasn't going to make a move, Rose went in for a quick hug and then told the Fat Lady the password and practically ran into the common room. Scorpius continued to stand outside, berating himself for not kissing her when he had the chance. He would definitely regret that later.

* * *

Rose woke up that next morning to an owl knocking on her window. After letting the owl in, and giving him a treat, Rose took the letter and broke the seal.

 _Ms. Weasley,_

 _As a celebration to the end of the first five weeks of classes, I thought I'd invite the professors down to the Three Broomsticks for a celebratory round of drinks! I hope you can make it!_

 _Filius Flitwick_

Rose laughed after reading the invitation. As much as she admired most of her coworkers, there was no way she wanted to have a drink with all of them. She also knew that Emily wouldn't be going, since there were a few students who needed to stay overnight at the Hospital Wing. So there went all of her incentive to go tonight. Oh well.

Rose sat around in her office and in her bedroom for most of the day, not getting much done; that was unless reading four chapters of _Hogwarts, A History_ counted as being productive. By 10:00, there was a knock on her door, and Rose wondered who it could be. She was not surprised, however, when it was Teddy on the other side of the door.

"Rose! Why aren't you dressed?" he asked as he walked in.

"What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you dressed to go to the Three Broomsticks!"

"Well, because I'm not going."

Teddy chuckled before realizing she was serious.

"Of course you're going! Of course, I should have known that you'd put up a fight. Now come on. Get changed into something you'd wear to the Three Broomsticks and then we can head out."

"I really don't want to go, Teddy."

"Sorry, Rose. I have strict orders from Vic to not leave your room until you agree to come with me!"

"Hmpf. Well at least is Vic coming?"

"Nope, sorry. She was very tired and tucked in about an hour ago," Teddy replied.

"Oh. Also WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU TWO WERE AT ST. MUNGO'S YOU PRAT?!" Rose yelled while slapping his head extra hard, as she had forgotten to lambast Teddy the moment she saw him.

"Ow! Vic's fine! I'm fine! It wasn't that type of visit anyway," he replied cryptically.

"What the _bloody hell_ does that mean?"

"You're smart, Rosie. I think you'll figure it out on your own."

"You seriously aren't going to tell me?" she asked. Teddy shook his head back and forth, indicating she was on her own. "I bloody hate you, you know that right?"

"Yep, now get dressed, Weasley, before you make us late!"

Ten minutes later Rose was ready to go, now wearing a purple jumper and a pair of jeans. She was still mad at Teddy for making her go, but now she was in the mood for drinking. Rose didn't want to get plastered, but she definitely was ready to have a few drinks in her system. Once they arrived at the Three Broomsticks, Neville had already saved a table. Rose and Teddy sat down, noticing it was only Neville, Flitwick, Trelawney, and the two of them at the moment. Flitwick promised that more would be coming, but Rose wasn't so sure. As she went to get her and Teddy a drink, Rose heard a shuffling of chairs over by where her group was sitting. When she turned around, drinks in hand, she realized that Scorpius had joined them. Of course he had. Placing a butterbeer in front of Teddy, and having grabbed some spiced mead for herself, Rose nodded at Scorpius and took her place next to Neville.

The next few hours passed by quickly with each professor consuming quite a bit of alcohol. But even Rose had to admit, it was _nice_ to have so many coworkers together. Even Trelawney, who Rose detested! It seemed that after Rose had a few drinks, Trelawney just didn't seem as annoying. The professors talked about teaching materials, gossip about students, and plans for the rest of the year. Rose was shocked that she was having so much fun. She noticed that even Scorpius seemed to be having a good time, as he talked a lot with Flitwick and Neville. His hearty chuckle had always amused Rose. Scorpius often found the humor in small things, unlike many would think, so it made Rose smile when Scorpius would lean his head back and just laugh.

Everyone was having a good time, but, with responsibilities looming, Filitwick and Trelawney left within the hour. And a while later, Neville decided to leave, claiming he was much too old to stay out past 12:30 AM. Not wanting to make him walk back alone, Teddy decided to accompany him.

"Besides," Teddy argued, "I've had more than enough to drink. Rose, Scorpius, do you want to come back now too?"

"I'm fine," they both said at the same time. Rose still had about half of her third glass of spiced mead left, and she did not intend on letting it go to waste. And even if she wound up walking back by herself, Rose knew she would be okay. In the moment, it didn't seem like such a bad idea to be left with Scorpius. He hadn't really been _that_ bad recently, and Rose could handle him. She could be alone with him and carry a conversations. Besides, there were people all around them in the bar; it's not like they were _actually_ alone or anything.

"Well it looks like it's just down to the two of us, Rose," Scorpius said, looking directly across the table at her.

"I suppose you're right. But really, I expected nothing less," she replied, taking another swig of her spiced mead.

"I didn't know you drank that stuff," he said, pointing to her glass.

"It seems in the past few years, I've somewhat, uhh, acquired a taste for it. If I remember correctly, you've always liked the stuff," Rose said, giving Scorpius a smirk.

"That I have."

"It seems you're not the only one who remembers things about the other."

The instant the words came out of Rose's mouth she regretted it. _Why_ did she have to say something so stupid like that? They were being cordial, much more than cordial one could argue, and then Rose had to make things awkward. She could blame it on the firewhiskey. She definitely wasn't drunk, but she was tipsy enough to get away with blaming her words on the alcohol.

But instead of making it even more awkward, Scorpius calmly replied:

"I guess you're right. And your thoughts on firewhiskey?" he asked smoothly.

"It's okay. It's not my favorite, but I'll make an exception and drink it every once in a while."

"Would you be willing to make tonight one of those exceptions?" Rose looked at him curiously, not understanding what he was asking. "I have a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in my office, and I've been meaning to drink some. If you're interested."

This sounded like a bad idea to Rose. It was one thing to sit in a crowded bar and drink with your ex-boyfriend. It was another thing to go back to his room and drink some more, especially alcohol that was much stronger.

"Well…" Rose began.

"Come on, Rose. I don't bite."

 _Screw it_ , Rose thought. What was one more drink? Especially when she was having fun.

"Fine. But just _one drink_. I do have essays to grade tomorrow."

Scorpius nodded and they walked together back up to the castle. Rose not paying attention, tripped on a rock; however, Scorpius caught her before she fell. She thanked him, blaming her clumsiness and the alcohol.

Once they arrived at Scorpius's quarters, he opened the door, motioning Rose inside. Rose had never seen Scorpius's office or living space before and she wasn't surprised at how immaculate it was. Of course, Scorpius had always been tidy, but his place was spotless. As he grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey out of his desk, Rose took a seat. Scorpius put the bottle between them on the table and levitated two glasses over. He rolled up his left sleeve to his elbow and started to do the same to his right. Then, Rose curiously eyed a large red mark on the upper part of his forearm, and Scorpius stopped and pushed the sleeve back down to his wrist. Rose wondered what the mark was, and she was about to ask him; however, she was quickly distracted by the drink Scorpius poured her.

"So," Scorpius began while pouring himself a drink. "Why don't we play a game?" Rose chuckled.

"What, are we 7th years?"

"No, but I thought it'd be fun," he retorted.

"Fine. It's your alcohol, so I suppose it's your rules."

"Okay. So I'll ask you a question and you can either answer or take a shot. Then you ask me a question."

"This seems awfully personal," Rose interjected.

"Scared, Weasley?" he retorted.

"You wish, Malfoy. Do your worst." Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was just plain courage, but Rose was now ready to play and to win (if that was even possible).

"What was the last lie you told?" he asked.

"I told Emily that something wasn't a big deal, when really it was to me." Rose was referring to what Scorpius had told her at the Quidditch match (that she would "forever be ingrained into his memory"). Now Rose had a question she really wanted to know the answer to, so she was glad she was finally getting the chance. "Mhmm… Okay. I remember you always wanted to be a curse breaker, so why did you apply for the job at Hogwarts?"

"Those who can't, teach." Rose absolutely _hated_ that phrase. It was so annoying to her that teaching was seen as a "less than" profession, and she was shocked Scorpius thought this, especially since he was a professor himself. Instead of arguing, she waited for his clarification but it never came. Instead he posed a question for her. "Who was your first kiss?"

"I think you know the answer to that one," she replied, while blushing. "And your's?"

"I think you know the answer too."

* * *

 _October 27, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year._

Scorpius paced around the Slytherin common room, berating himself. He had such a wonderful date with Rose and then he blew it _when he didn't kiss her._ Yes, it seemed like Rose wanted him to go out with him again too, so he would have more opportunities. But that wasn't the point! Scorpius rarely put himself out there, and in the few cases he did, it often blew up in his face. But when it came to Rose, Scorpius didn't care. Yes, he was terrified that when he held her hand or asked her out she'd rebuke him. But he really cared about Rose, and Scorpius wanted to take risks with her. She made him want to get out there and put himself in situations he normally would be uncomfortable with.

Noticing the anxiety on his friend's face, Sampson Zabini walked up behind Scorpius and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything alright, mate?" he asked.

"What? Uhh, yeah."

"No seriously, what's wrong? Did your date not go well?"

"It was fantastic! Rose and I had a great time. It's just… uhh, I should've kissed her. And I didn't."

"Oh." Sampson looked at Scorpius and saw the regret in his eyes. "Well, you know it's still technically Saturday. So if you, hypothetically, went to Rose now and kissed her, you could say that you kissed her the same day as the date."

"What? Zabini that's crazy! She'll think I'm insane. What would I say? 'Hi, Rose. I really wanted to kiss you earlier and I didn't, so I thought I'd show back up and kiss you now. What do you say?' Yeah that sounds great!"

"Look, Malfoy. You really like her, and it seems that she likes you. So why not?"

Scorpius looked at Zabini, realizing he was right. He could take a chance, and maybe look like a fool, or he could continue to sit in the Slytherin common room and regret not going to Rose. Before he could even think to thank his friend, Scorpius rushed out of the common room and rushed to Gryffindor Tower. Scorpius ran up the flights of stairs, huffing once he reached the portrait. _Shit._ He didn't know the password! How was he supposed to get to Rose if he couldn't even get inside.

"Malfoy?" Albus Potter asked curiously.

"Potter. Oh thank, Merlin. Can you, uhh, let me in or get Rose for me? I…ummm… forgot something earlier."

"Okay… I'll get her. Just give me a moment."

Albus gave the Fat Lady the password and went in to get Rose. Minutes later, the portrait door swung open again and Rose appeared.

"Scorpius, is everything alright? Albus said you needed to see me!"

"Everything's fine. I had a great time today, and it's just, uhh, we didn't end the date the way I had planned. Because I was scared and I didn't want to blow it with you."

"Scorpius, what are you talking about? Today was _amazing_ and I can't wait to go out again. And please, you shouldn't be nervous. I mean, you're so great and I hope you know that I really like you, and uhh, you always make me laugh and smile and-"

Deciding he couldn't take it any longer, Scorpius brought his lips to Rose's as she rested her hands on his shoulders. He moved his hands into her curly red hair, as their lips continued to explore. Rose sighed as they moved apart.

"I'm really glad you did that," Rose whispered with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad I did, too." For a first kiss, it was amazing.

* * *

"If you could change anything about your past, what would it be?" Rose asked. Really, Rose wanted to ask why he broke up with her, but she was too afraid to ask. Although she was over it, not knowing constantly gnawed away at Rose. But she knew she would never be able to actually ask _that_ question, so this would have to do.

But Scorpius didn't answer the question and he took a shot instead. _That was interesting._ Scorpius had a grin on his face before he asked the next question.

"If you had to shag any Hogwarts professor, who would it be?"

Of course it would be him. It had to be him. Even from a logical standpoint, there was no other choice. Besides Teddy and Neville, Scorpius was the only other male professor under 50. And she definitely didn't want to shag Neville, a man she called her Uncle, or Teddy, who was married to her cousin!

And Scorpius knew the answer too. He knew it would be him. But that didn't stop Rose from taking a shot and refusing to answer. Before Scorpius could do it, Rose grabbed the bottle of firewhiskey and poured herself another drink.

And only to be fair, Rose asked him the same question. She knew what answer she wanted to hear. But she doubted he'd say it. Besides, Emily was very attractive. He could say her and Rose wouldn't be offended. And besides that, he would never answer. He'd take a shot like she did. Scorpius always shied away from situations like this, which is why Rose was surprised he'd suggested this game in the first place. But maybe the alcohol had made him adventurous enough.

"You," Scorpius said, looking straight into Rose's chocolate brown eyes. And despite having answered the question, he took a shot anyway.

Rose started to blush, not able to look Scorpius in his eyes.

Maybe it was because she was finally feeling the affects of the alcohol, or her Gryffindor bravery was kicking in, but she took another shot before Scorpius asked her the next question.

"What part of my body do you find most attractive?"

"Your eyes."

" _Really?_ My eyes."

"Yes," she replied, not shying away. "Your eyes are like the calm before a storm. And despite what you may think, I could always tell what you were thinking based on your eyes."

Rose couldn't believe she had said that. _Why_ was she still doing this? She could just walk away before she did something she regretted. But the problem was _Rose didn't want to._ At this moment, she wanted to stay here with Scorpius and see what happened. Besides. Nothing would happen. _She wouldn't let it._

"What part of my body do _you_ find most attractive?" she asked to him, as he continued to pierce her eyes.

 _Great_ , Rose. Definitely the best question to ask.

"Your lips." Rose blushed and subconsciously ran her tongue over her lips. But despite how warm her body felt, she couldn't look away from Scorpius. There was a reason his eyes was her favorite part of his body. She felt safe, secure, and calm. Scorpius moved closer to Rose as he poured himself another shot. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Are you attracted to me?"

"I think the answer's pretty obvious," she muttered. Of course she was attracted to him. Even if she normally wouldn't admit it, especially to him, the answer was clear. Even though she didn't have any romantic feelings for him, _anymore_ , Scorpius was definitely attractive. "Doyoufindmeattractive?" Rose asked quickly, half hoping Scorpius wouldn't hear her.

"Of course I do," he replied, grabbing her hand and rubbing his thumb over her palm. Shivers went down Rose's spine. _He was holding her hand. Why didn't she pull away? Why was she okay with this?_ "Rose?" Scorpius probed, breaking Rose from her thoughts.

"Mhmm?"

"What would you do if I kissed you right now?"

Rose lost all of the air in her lungs. It was like she couldn't breathe. _This is where you tell him no, Rose. It's time to go. Don't do something stupid. Don't do something you'll regret in the morning._ Rose knew this was where it was time to choose. Was she going to let Scorpius kiss her? Despite everything she promised herself after he broke up with her years ago? _Fuck it._

"I wouldn't stop you," she replied, her cheeks flushed.

Rose didn't even have a chance to blink before Scorpius grabbed her and their lips collided. Rose grasped his face, needing to make sure that he was _actually there_. His breath smelt like firewhiskey, and she was sure her breath did too. Scorpius pulled her closer, bodies up against one another. He angled his head so he could move his lips more firmly against her's. Rose moaned, having missed this feeling for so long. She could feel Scorpius smiling as she sunk her hand into his blonde hair. Scorpius started to hoist Rose up onto the table without breaking their kiss. But during the transfer, Rose's wand fell out of her pocket, slamming on the floor.

 _Crash._

Rose immediately let go of Scorpius, the noise breaking them out of their own personal reverie. She took a few steps backwards, stumbling slightly. Rose's chest was frantically moving up and down, as she tried to catch her breath. Scorpius's lips were swollen and he seemed far too interested in the ground to look up at Rose. Realizing what they had just done, she headed towards the door.

"Uhh, I have to go."

"Rose-"

"Thanks for the firewhiskey."

Rose slammed the door shut, rushing back to her room. Once she arrived, she fell onto her bed, wondering _what the bloody hell had just happened._ Scorpius had kissed her. _And she had kissed him back._ And it seemed like they had no intention of stopping. _If it wasn't for her wand falling…_ It was all because of the alcohol. She was drunk. _Not really. She had drank quite a bit, but she was still capable of making decisions. And she had decided to kiss Scorpius._

And the worst part of it all was that Rose wanted to go right back to Scorpius's room and do it all again.


	9. Revelations and Regrets

**Hi guys. Here's another chapter. There's a lot of big reveals in this one, so please let me know what you think! :)**

 _Oh, we're on the right side of rock bottom_  
 _And I hope that we keep falling_  
 _We're on the good side of bad karma_  
 _'Cause we keep on coming back for more_  
 _We're on the right side of rock bottom_  
 _Into you, I just keep crawling_  
 _You're the best kind of bad something_  
 _'Cause we keep on coming back for more_

 _"Rock Bottom_ _" Hailee Steinfeld_

Rose woke up with a grin on her face, just having had a pleasant dream. But when she remembered the nightmare she was currently living in, she groaned and pulled the covers over her head. _She had kissed Scorpius._ And it wasn't a quick peck or anything. _They had full out snogged._ She was drunk; that was why it had happened. _She wasn't really drunk. Rose had made logical decisions when more intoxicated before._

Plus there was a nagging thought in the back of Rose's mind: what would have happened if Rose's wand hadn't fallen to the ground? How long would she have kissed Scorpius for? How far would they have gone? These were all questions Rose didn't want to know the answer to, but it was bothering her all the same.

And now everything was going to be so _freaking awkward._ It always had been with Scorpius, but now it was going to be worse. At least before last night Rose could pretend that everything was in the past, and as colleagues they could work together without any real issue. _But now…_

Rose wasn't even sure if she could look at Scorpius, let alone talk and work alongside him. _But she had to._ She needed to pretend this had never happened. For the sake of their jobs and the sake of awkwardness. Kissing him had been a mistake, that was for sure, but now Rose needed to get past last night. And she figured that Scorpius would want the same. Besides, he was the reason their relationship ended years ago, so obviously he wanted nothing from her now.

And Rose would tell him all of this. She would confront him at breakfast, in a nonchalant and calm manor, and she would explain how they needed to go back to the way things were before last night. Because despite what had happened, nothing had changed. _It couldn't. She wouldn't let it._

After getting out of bed and getting ready for the day ahead, Rose headed down to the Great Hall. Despite what had happened the night before, this was no excuse for Rose to miss breakfast. Especially since she _needed_ a nice warm cup of coffee. She was determined to get Scorpius's attention, perhaps sit next to him, and have a rational discussion. She couldn't hide.

But as she walked into the Great Hall and saw Scorpius sitting near Neville engaged in conversation, she started to blush. _Damn it, Rose. Stop it._ But she couldn't. Scorpius, seeing Rose approaching the professor's table, glanced up at her almost begging her to sit by him. _But she couldn't._ Despite everything she had told herself about discussing the matter and being mature about it, she couldn't. Rose often wondered why she was a Gryffindor. She often avoided conflict when possible because it was often awkward and was just painful.

When Rose saw the opportunity, she took it. Emily also happened to be walking into the Great Hall to find a seat, so Rose grabbed her and dragged them toward two seats at the far end of the table. Far away from Scorpius.

"What the hell are you doing?" Emily whispered as Rose reached for some eggs and bacon.

"Muhmm, what do you mean?"

"Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not acting weird."

"Rose, what's going on?"

"I, uhh, nothing."

"You're a terrible liar, Rose."

Rose looked down at her plate, unsure of what to say. Emily would never let her live this down. But she did want to tell her. Rose was so conflicted; she really was. Would telling Emily prolong her agony?

"I don't think I want to talk about it," Rose replied.

"Like I said, you're a terrible liar."

Rose eyed Emily, knowing she just wanted her to be okay. Emily was a good friend. And Rose was tired of thinking about this.

"Fine, come with me." Rose motioned Emily into the hallway, not wanting anyone to overhear her.

"What is going on?" Emily whispered.

"I did something very stupid last night. Something very, very stupid. And just, why did I have to be so stupid?" Rose had her head in her hands, groaning.

"What did you do?" Emily asked, excited and nervous at the same time. "Oh is it about Scorpius?" Rose started to blush, giving it away.

"Shhh! Be quiet! And fine. _It is about Scorpius_."

"Yes! I knew it! What happened?"

" _Ikissedhim._ "

"YOU WHAT?!"

"We were at the Three Broomsticks. And then we decided to go back to his room-"

" _What?_ "

"Just to drink and talk some more! That's it!" Rose argued. Emily rolled her eyes, obviously not believing her.

"And then…" Emily prompted, knowing this wasn't the end of the story.

"And then, I don't know, something snapped inside me and we kissed. And we continued to snog until my wand fell to the ground, and then we came to our senses and I left."

"Wow," Emily said, unsure of what to say. "Wow."

"And then I thought I'd come in here and tell him that obviously we were drunk and it was a mistake and that things need to go back to normal. Or at least as normal as they were before. But then I walked in here and see him and I'm so embarrassed and I can't talk to him. And _what do I do?_ "

"I was right! I was right!" Emily said in a sing-songy voice. "This is great!"

"How in Merlin's name is this great?"

"Because! You two just need to admit your feelings for each other."

Rose sighed, knowing Emily wasn't right by any means. She knew this would happen if she told Emily. But yet she did anyway.

"You don't even know what Scorpius is thinking," Emily continued. "Maybe just see what he says and go from there."

"Despite what happened between us, there aren't feelings there. Look. Last night I made a mistake. A major mistake, but at least it didn't get out of hand. But now I'm just overthinking things. And I thought I'd be brave enough to talk to him, or do something. But I can't right now. I don't know what I was thinking."

Emily looked at Rose, almost pitying her. She knew how happy Rose and Scorpius would be only if they recognized how they actually saw each other. She could push and meddle as much as she wanted, but they needed to figure things out for themselves. So this was up to Rose and Scorpius to handle. But, at the moment, she didn't have too much confidence in them.

* * *

The next few days Rose was on a mission: avoid Scorpius at all costs. Her new logic was that if she went for a while without seeing Scorpius, they might both forget about everything that happened. Even though it didn't seem _that_ plausible, it was the only plan Rose had. So it had to be true.

But in order for this to work, Rose had to constantly be vigilant. She had to scope out her surroundings, be it the Great Hall, her classroom, or the hallways, because Scorpius could appear at any moment. So she needed to be prepared to run and hide at all times.

The day before had been particularly stressful for Rose since she had numerous close encounters with Scorpius. Before breakfast she headed down to Great Hall; however, she forgot that her path went past Scorpius's quarters. When she heard his door open, just seconds after she had passed the doorway, she rushed into an alcove and hid until she knew Scorpius was gone. And later that same day, Rose left Emily in the middle of their conversation because she saw Scorpius approaching. Avoiding someone was harder than it looked.

Because of all the effort Rose had put into hiding recently, she was tired. So it made sense that she wasn't paying attention when she was walking back to her room and she bumped right into Scorpius.

"Merlin, I'm sorry!" Rose exclaimed, looking up and realizing who she had run into. "Uhh, sorry, Scorpius. Didn't see you there."

"It's, umm, fine," he replied, not sure how to keep her from running off. He knew that she had been avoiding him the past few days and he wanted to put an end to it. "Actually, I think we should talk."

"Oh, okay." Damn. So he hadn't forgotten what had happened. And now they were going to _talk about it._ Yay.

"I-" Rose began.

"I can start." Rose nodded, urging him to continue, "So, umm, I think neither of us expected, what uhh, happened on Friday to uhh happen, but I need to say that maybe, just maybe, it, well, was a good-"

"Wait," Rose said, interrupting him. She couldn't take his rambling; she needed to say what she was thinking while she had her few seconds of bravery. "Look. What happened on Friday was a mistake. I think we both know that. We drank too much and obviously that's why we kissed; we were just caught up in the moment. I think we just need to acknowledge, the uhh, mistake that it was and move on. Pretend it never happened."

Scorpius stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say. Rose's words took him aback, but maybe she was right. But at the very least, he couldn't tell her what he was actually thinking. Because despite his thoughts, he couldn't open up knowing he would only get hurt. It was clear where Rose stood, so it made no sense for him to object, although his opinion was the exact opposite of her's.

"Yeah, you're right," Scorpius replied. "Let's just go back to how things were before."

Rose nodded, happy that they were agreeing. But in the same moment, Rose felt uneasy and unsure. And she realized that despite what she had just said, she wanted to kiss him again. And again. But she had already spoke her mind; she couldn't take it back now. She was stuck, but at least she knew that Scorpius regretted what had happened too; that made her feel the tiniest bit better about the whole thing.

"Okay, then. I guess I'll see you later, Scorpius."

"Bye, Rose," he said, sighing after she left. This could have been his chance to say what he was thinking, but he didn't. Like always, he didn't take the risk and he knew he would regret it later.

* * *

 _March 20, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's fifth year._

 _Rose was sitting in the library studying, as she often did on Wednesday nights. Thankfully, most of her cousins were busy, so there was no one there to really bother her. She could do her work in peace and quiet. She had finished her Astronomy, Transfiguration, and Ancient Runes homework. It was fantastic. But Rose had lost track of time, and it was a few hours later than she expected. She looked around and noticed that she didn't see anyone else in the library. It was past curfew, but Rose was a prefect so it was okay. She would just go back to the Gryffindor common room and go to sleep._

 _Rose started to return her books to the shelves, knowing others would probably want to use them for their essays. When she was returning her Astronomy book, near the restricted section, she heard a quiet sob. Rose moved closer to the noise, wanting to make sure the person was okay. When she peeked through the bookshelf, she noticed a young Hufflepuff girl crying. Rose wanted to go and help, but as Rose went to move, she heard another voice._

 _"Look, it's okay. Please don't cry," the voice said. Rose moved another book so she could see more, and she realized that Scorpius Malfoy was there with the girl._

 _Rose really didn't know Scorpius Malfoy that well. Besides having a few classes with him, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were together, Rose just knew that Malfoy was very intelligent, quiet, and a fellow prefect. Him and Rose often tied for the highest marks in classes, yet he rarely raised his hand or volunteered. She had heard that he had quite a mean streak. But she had heard that from her cousin James, who seemed to have it out against him for no reason other than his last name._

 _Rose really didn't have an opinion on Scorpius, but she was a little surprised to see him helping the Hufflepuff girl. She had pegged Scorpius as the type as to not want to get involved in other's lives._

 _"I know it's hard sometimes, and people aren't always the nicest," Scorpius continued. "In fact, people can be downright mean. But don't let them get to you. People have bullied me and I just ignore them. Show them they can't get under my skin, you know?"_

 _The girl nodded and gave Scorpius a small smile._

 _"Thank you," she replied, wiping a tear from her face._

 _"Of course. I'll walk you back to your common room so you don't get in trouble for being out after hours."_

 _Rose stood there for a few moments after Scorpius and the girl left. She still didn't know too much about Scorpius, but know she knew more. She knew he was kind and caring, and James was wrong about him. From now on, Rose would pay a little more attention to Scorpius Malfoy._

* * *

The last week had gone well for Rose. Her students seemed receptive to her lessons, and things with her colleagues had been fine. Things with Scorpius had been fine. She hadn't seen him much, but the few moments they interacted were _normal._ Or that's what Rose thought. Emily told her that things were definitely not normal between the two of them, but Rose had been ignoring her. And despite what Emily said, there was _no way_ she was going to tell Lily about what happened. Lily would be even worse than Emily was, and Emily was driving her crazy.

Since it was a Saturday, Rose thought it would be best to spend some time with Victoire. She really hadn't seen her much in the past two weeks, and Rose felt bad. Just because she was busy didn't mean she should ignore her cousin. Rose reached Vic and Teddy's quarters and knocked on the door. After a few moments of silence, she weakly heard Victoire invite her in.

"Vic, you okay?" Rose asked, opening the door cautiously.

"Rose, is that you?" Vic said, emerging from the bathroom. "Sorry, I was just in the bathroom," she explained, giving Rose a hug.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever! Where's Teddy?" Rose asked.

"He just went out for a bit. Should be back soon."

Victoire motioned toward the table, inviting Rose to sit down.

"Oh no," Vic started, running out of the room toward the bathroom. Rose heard Victoire vomiting, so she rushed to help her.

"Merlin, Vic, are you okay?"

"Yep," she said, grabbing a tissue and wiping her mouth. "I'm fine."

"How long has this been going on?" Rose asked, surprised Vic wasn't more concerned.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe about a month," she said, half smiling.

"That's a long time! You should go down to see Emily. I'm sure she can give you something to make it stop."

"She can't, Rose. This isn't her, uhh, specialty."

" _What?_ Emily can cure a nauseous stomach, Vic." Rose really didn't understand what Victoire was talking about, but she was getting worried. No one should be vomiting on and off for a month and not seek someone.

"Let's just say she can't exactly cure _morning sickness_."

"Wait." Rose was finally starting to get it: the vomiting, Vic not drinking alcohol at the Three Broomsticks, and her and Teddy visiting St. Mungo's. " _YOU'RE PREGNANT?!"_

Victoire broke into a wide grin.

"Yes! Took you long enough to figure it out!" That was true. But Rose was so happy that she was going to overlook how dense she had been. Teddy and Victoire would be amazing parents. Rose knew that they would be so loving and devoting and that any kid would be lucky to call them mom and dad.

"Merlin, this is great! You guys are going to be awesome parents! How far along are you?"

"Just about . I really can't believe it, but we're so excited."

"This is amazing, Vic. Congratulations!"

The door opened and Teddy entered. Rose ran over and gave him a huge hug.

"Woah, Rose! I'm happy to see you too, but what's this about?" gesturing to the hug he was still currently in.

"She figured it out," Victoire said, cluing Teddy in.

"It took you this long to figure it out? I just presumed you knew!" Rose let go of Teddy and saw Scorpius was behind him. "Hi, Rose, Victoire," he said. Rose knew that Teddy and Scorpius hung out a lot, but she was surprised he was here. Granted, Scorpius surprised her a lot, so she should have expected it.

"Even I have to admit I was shocked it took you so long, especially with all the clues I was dropping," Teddy joked.

"I figured it out two weeks ago," Scorpius teased.

"Shut up, you guys," Rose said. Yes, she was embarrassed she couldn't figure it out, but at least she knew now.

"I ran into Scorpius and I thought we could all hang out for a bit. Maybe play a game of exploding snap," Teddy offered.

Rose wanted to, she really did. But would things be weird with Scorpius?

"Uhh…"

"I'm in," Scorpius said, looking at Rose. Now Rose felt she had to or everyone would think something was wrong. And besides, it couldn't be that bad.

"Okay," Rose said. "Sounds fun."

* * *

 _December 12, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose was very excited. She hadn't been dating Scorpius for too long, but today she would get to introduce him to two very important people in her life. It was only their second time together at Hogsmeade, but Scorpius was going to meet Rose's cousin Victoire and her boyfriend, Teddy. She really trusted the opinion of Victoire, and she thought that it would be nice for Scorpius to meet part of her family; at least, part of the family he didn't see everyday at Hogwarts._

 _Scorpius was nervous to meet Teddy and Victoire, but Rose assured him that he had nothing to worry about. But nonetheless, he wanted to impress Rose's family, every single family member. Even Rose's father who he presumed already had it out for him._

 _As Rose and Scorpius walked into the Three Broomsticks, she squeezed his hand, assuring him that it would be okay. Rose saw Teddy and Victoire already at a table, butterbeers in hand. She gave them both a big hug, while Scorpius shook Teddy's hand._

 _"It's so nice to meet you, Scorpius," Victoire said._

 _"You guys, too."_

 _"Thanks for meeting us here," Rose said._

 _"So Scorpius. How's school going?" Teddy asked._

 _"It's going well, thanks. I mean it's hard to keep up with Rose, but I try," he said with a grin._

 _"That's true. No one can ever keep up with Rosie," Teddy joked._

 _Rose was happy. Throughout the lunch it seemed as if everyone was happy. Victoire and Teddy asked Scorpius more about school and his future plans. Victoire was especially impressed that Scorpius wanted to be a curse breaker since her father worked as one. She even offered to put Scorpius in contact with her father in case he had any questions._

 _"So…" Victoire began, "how did you guys start dating?"_

 _Rose began to blush. Of course Vic would ask them that. She tended to pry, even though she didn't mean to be rude._

 _"We uhh," Rose said. "Uhh, we're in all the same classes and we study a lot together-"_

 _"And I finally got the courage to ask Rose out one morning. Wish the story was more interesting," Scorpius added._

 _"Well I think that's very sweet," Victoire exclaimed._

 _Vic was happy that Rose found someone who understood her. Rose often had problems connecting with people as she could be aloof and having the last name Weasley didn't always help. But Scorpius was like Rose; they complemented each other._

 _"If you'd excuse me," Scorpius said, "I need to use the restroom."_

 _Once Scorpius left the table, Victoire grabbed Rose's hand and squealed._

 _"Rose, he's perfect for you!"_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Oh definitely. And it's so sweet how much he cares about you."_

 _"Teddy?" Rose asked, wanting to him approve as well._

 _"Ehh, I guess he's okay," Teddy joked. "But seriously, he seems nice. I like him."_

 _"Oh that's great to hear. I'm so glad you guys like Scorpius," Rose exclaimed._

 _"And of course we'll be there when you introduce him to the rest of the family," Victoire said. "Just in case Uncle Ron freaks out."_

* * *

Rose was enjoying herself spending time with Teddy, Vic, and even Scorpius. She tended to get burnt quite often when playing exploding snap, but she had escaped that pain so far. However, she couldn't say the same for Teddy and Scorpius. Scorpius had already lost an eyebrow and Teddy's finger had a pretty severe burn. Of course, they pretended it was nothing and continued on with the game. Victoire, who decided not to participate and just watch, rolled her eyes each time the boys would do this.

Rose, noticing a pair of cards, tapped her wand on the card, slightly pushing Scorpius so he would miss.

"Watch it, Weasley," he teased.

"You're just jealous I got the pair before you did. Pay more attention and maybe you'll beat me," she replied.

Now Rose was starting to get competitive. That happened every once in a while during a game of exploding snap. And she _always_ got competitive when she used to play against Scorpius. Rose remembered how they would both trash talk and shove each other out of the way back when they were dating. Playing exploding snap could always get them to laugh at the end of a stressful day.

"Ahh!" Rose cried, sucking the finger that had just been singed. Scorpius chuckled at Rose's predicament. "Laughing at my pain, Malfoy?"

"Only because you deserved it," he smirked.

Rose glared at him, hoping he got burnt again.

"Merlin," Teddy said, reminding Rose that him and Victoire were also there. "I'd be afraid, mate. Bad things have happened to the people Rose looked at like that."

"I'm not afraid of her. She's all bark, no bite," Scorpius said with a grin on his face. This reminded him of when they were dating and used to play this game; their teasing was legendary amongst those who played with them. "Damnit!" Scorpius yelled, the card igniting and scorching his right palm.

Rose and Teddy stopped playing for a moment, recognizing that Scorpius was in actual, long pain which normally didn't occur with exploding snap. Sure, people felt a quick moment of pain when they get burnt, but nothing like what it seemed Scorpius was feeling. Rose, filled with concern, grabbed Scorpius's hand to see what was wrong. He tried to pull it away, but Rose held onto it tight.

There was a large purple mark where Scorpius's hand was burnt, which Rose had never seen anything like before. It was much more than a normal burn mark and it seemed to be spreading, slowly but surely.

"Are you ok-"

"I need to go," Scorpius said, standing up and interrupting Rose. "I'll be fine, just should probably rest for a bit."

"Do you want me to take you to the Hospital Wing?" Teddy offered.

"No, don't worry about it. I had a great time, thanks. Hopefully we can all get together soon." With that Scorpius left, a slight grimace still on his face.

"Wha, what happened? What's wrong with Scorpius?" Rose asked very confused. "I mean, we've played snap together before and I've never seen anything like that happen to him. Teddy, do you know?"

"No. I really don't," Teddy said.

Vic sat on the couch, stroking Teddy's hand. She was also lost on what had transpired the past few minutes with Scorpius, but throughout the afternoon she did realize one thing: Scorpius still looked at Rose the way he used to. No matter how much Rose, or even Scorpius, would protest if she said such a thing, Vic knew it was true. Scorpius looked at Rose with the admiration and love she had seen all those years ago when they met for the first time at the Three Broomsticks. And although Rose would tell Vic that nothing was going on between them and that she'll never have feelings for Scorpius again, Vic knew not to believe that. She saw the way Scorpius looked at Rose today. Even more importantly, she saw the way Rose looked back at him. And that was all the evidence that Vic needed.


	10. The Project

**Hi guys! I know, I'm back so fast. This is a super short chapter (really more of a filler), but it's important. Plus, I already have the next chapter written (yay!) and it's pretty intense. So please let me know what you think and review, favorite, and follow. Thanks! :)**

 _And when I see the curve of the earth in your willow eyes_

 _I'm a rocketeer_

 _Coming home after all these years at the speed of light_

 _And suddenly you're there_

 _Like a pearl in the palm of the universe_

 _Your unlikely skies_

 _Filing up my eyes_

 _You come as a surprise_

 _"_ _You Got Me" Ingrid Michaelson_

Rose could not believe that it was the week before Winter break. The first half of the year had gone by so quickly despite everything that had happened to her.

The last month and a half had especially flown by, after that afternoon with Teddy and Victoire and Scorpius. Rose, of course, had seen Scorpius around but they hadn't really discussed what happened. She was a little freaked out when she saw that purple mark after their game of exploding snap, but when Rose saw him the next morning at breakfast, the mark was gone. As if it was never there. She tried to ask him about it, but he immediately changed the subject, indicating there was no way he was going to talk about it. So Rose let it go, but she couldn't get it out of her mind. She even went to the restricted section of the library, but she couldn't find anything there. Emily was no help either. When Rose asked her, she claimed she had no idea, but Rose knew that Emily was hiding something.

Victoire's stomach was starting to get bigger. Rose constantly told her she was glowing, and it wasn't a lie. However, her cravings were getting a little odd for Rose's tastes. Peanut butter and pickles, ketchup and ice cream were just a few of the strange combinations. But Teddy was so helpful and would run down to the Kitchens whenever Vic was the slightest bit hungry.

Since Rose only had one week left before most of the students left for break, she had a lot of grading to do. She had given exams and papers to all of her classes within the past week, so that left Rose with a pile up of papers to read and grade.

This year would be especially different since she wouldn't be home for Christmas. The professors needed to stay at Hogwarts to supervise the students who weren't going home for the holidays. However, Rose, Teddy, and Vic would go to the burrow the day after Christmas for the Weasley family celebrations where everyone would be there. Rose was excited to see her family since she hadn't seen them, excluding Albus, since she left for Hogwarts in August. There was nothing compared to a Weasley celebration, with Grandma Molly's cooking and Uncle George's pranks. But she still had a little over a week until this, so Rose had to stay focused.

Rose was in her office grading her third year's exams when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said, not tearing her eyes from the exam in front of her.

"Uh, hi," Scorpius said, feeling a little awkward being in Rose's office.

"Oh, Scorpius. How can I help you?" Rose pushed her papers aside, inviting Scorpius to sit down.

"I came to talk to you about Mitchell Laurence. I believe you, too, have him in class."

Yes, Rose had Mitchell Laurence, a sixth year Slytherin, in class. But why would Scorpius need to discuss Mitchell with her? _Oh wait._ Now Rose was remembering a discussion she had with Mr. Laurence about a month into the school year.

 _"I want to work on an additional project that involves both Charms and Ancient Runes. In order to do this, I think I would need to meet with you and Professor Malfoy, together, at least once a week; however, I think the more time we are all together, the better."_

 _"Well, you see, Professor, I like both you and Professor Malfoy very much. And in the time I've been in both of your classes, I've come to the conclusion that you and Professor Malfoy are very compatible. So, I thought if I said I wanted to work on a project that involved both of your subjects, I could push you two to realize how good you'd be together. You know, romantically."_

Oh no.

"What about Mitchell Laurence?" Rose asked, but she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"He approached me about working on a joint Charms and Ancient Runes project. It seems he is quite fascinated both of our subjects and thought this would be a good idea to combine his interests."

"And?" Rose urged him to continue. This would be when Scorpius said he discovered Laurence's ulterior motives and took House points off and gave him detention.

"And? And I think it's a great idea." Wait what? He thought it was a _great idea?_

What the bloody hell was wrong with him? How did he not see that the only reason Laurence wanted to do this project just to get the two of them together? How could Scorpius see so many things, but he couldn't see this?

"I just think it's great that a student is showing so much interest that he would do extra work outside of class to learn more about Ancient Runes and Charms," Scorpius said, breaking Rose away from the thoughts she was having. "What do you think?"

How was she supposed to tell Scorpius this? That a _student_ was conspiring to get them together. There was no good way to explain this to him. Anyway she tried to phrase it in her head came out wrong. Rose was stuck.

"Rose?" Scorpius said hesitantly, wondering why she hadn't responded.

And then Rose said the one thing she really shouldn't have said.

"I think it's a great idea."

"Oh, good! Do you have any ideas for the project?" Scorpius asked.

Rose shook her head no, unable to speak.

"Oh okay," Scorpius replied. "Well, I have some runes Mr. Laurence could translate that I believe are old charm spells. After he translates them, he could work on the spells themselves. What do you think?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Rose said, trying to keep a smile on her face. What had she done?

"Great! Why don't I get Mr. Laurence now and we can explain this all to him."

Rose nodded as Scorpius left to get Mitchell. Rose could not believe this was happening. How did Scorpius not see the truth; and more importantly, how could Rose not tell him? Scorpius was so oblivious, and that was so unlike him. But then it hit Rose: Scorpius didn't see Mitchell's real motive because he was so excited that a student was so fascinated with Ancient Runes. Scorpius was happy that Mitchell was willing to go out of his way to challenge himself because it meant he was doing his job right. In that moment Rose could see how much Scorpius cared for his students and that was the most attractive thing she had ever seen.

While she was waiting for Scorpius to come back with Mitchell, Rose thought it would be best to write another letter to Lily. They hadn't spoken in a while, and Rose knew that Lily was busy at her job. But still, she just wanted to hear from Lily and she couldn't wait to see her soon. Even though she never told Lily about the kiss she shared with Scorpius. And she wasn't going to tell her.

 _Dear Lily,_

 _How are things going? Is work still super busy? Ohh how was Paris? That must have been AMAZING! Sorry for all the questions. I just hope things are going well with you._

 _Things here at Hogwarts are great! The students are so wonderful and I really can't believe this is my job; I'm so lucky. Okay, well sometimes some of the students can be a pain, but still. I can't complain. Speaking of students, you'll never believe what this sixth year is trying to do. He's trying to get Scorpius and I together! Ridiculous, right? (Please don't answer that question because I think I know what your response is). But seriously I can't believe it._

 _Did I ever tell you about what happened when I was playing exploding snap with Teddy and Scorpius? It happened a while ago, but it was weird. Anyway, we were playing exploding snap and Scorpius's palm got burnt. And you think it'd be fine, right? But instead he got a huge purple mark on his hand like I'd never seen before. It was so strange! And the next day, the mark was gone. I tried to ask him about it, but he just changed the subject. I've tried to figure it out, but I can't! Do you have any ideas?_

 _Besides that, things are going well with Scorpius. I'm glad we can be normal around each other. Really, things are good. Nothing weird has happened, despite what you may think. So ha. And please stop sending Emily letters and addressing it to "fellow member of the Get Rose and Scorpius Together Club!" You're just egging her on and WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE SAW YOUR LETTER?! I do have somewhat of a reputation to uphold, you know!_

 _See you soon!_

 _Rose_

Part of Rose did want to tell Lily about the kiss and how she's felt since then, but she figured the best way to put it all in the past was to ignore it completely. Scorpius was sweet and kind, but that didn't really matter. She didn't have feelings for him, despite what Lily and Emily said. Telling Lily every detail of her life would only give Lily more refutation against her.

Scorpius then knocked on the door and entered with Mitchell in tow. Rose folded her letter and put it in her pile, noting she needed to send it after this was over.

"Okay, Professor Weasley, I've brought Mr. Laurence so we can discuss his project. Would you like to explain it?"

"No, Professor Malfoy, you can do the honors," Rose said. Rose gave Mitchell a look that said _I know I said I would never allow you to do this project but if you say anything to Professor Malfoy you are dead meat._

"So, Mr. Laurence, the idea was that you could work on translating some runes, which I believe to be some old charms. Then you could work with Professor Weasley on those. What do you think?"

"Umm…" Mitchell began, "it seems like a lot, but as long as I can meet with both of you, together, during break I should be okay." Mitchell had a grin on his face, thinking his plan was coming to fruition.

"Will you be staying at Hogwarts during break?" Scorpius asked. Mitchell nodded. "This all sounds good to me. Professor Weasley?"

"Yes this sounds like a plan. However, since the project first focuses on Ancient Runes and _then_ Charms, I'm not sure it's really necessary for both Professor Malfoy and I to be there together," Rose said. Scorpius gave her a confused look while Mitchell knew exactly what she was doing.

"I understand what you're saying, Professor Weasley," Mitchell said with a gleam in his eyes. "However, I really think I could benefit from having both of you there. Besides, it's difficult to know how much progress I'll make and I think it'd be better to have both with me."

"I have to agree with Mr. Laurence," Scorpius said. Damn him. This was Rose's only way out and she blew it. "So, why don't we meet in the library every other day during break, and then we can reduce our meetings to once a week when classes start up again. Any questions?" Mitchell shook his head, indicating he understood. "Okay then. I have some papers to grade, but I guess I'll see you both tomorrow. Mr. Laurence, Rose," he said, leaving the room and shutting the door on the way out.

"Professor Weasley," Mitchell said. "I'm confused. When I came to you about this, you didn't approve o because you know I'm only doing it to try to get you and Professor Malfoy together. So why are you okay with it now when you said no a couple months ago?"

Rose took a deep breath, not knowing what to say to her student since she barely knew herself.

"First off, Mr. Laurence, I'm still thinking about taking off house points for going to Professor Malfoy when you knew I said. And don't get me wrong, I know your ulterior motives. So I guess I have to say try your best to get us together, because I know it won't work. And I know how much work this project entails. So good luck."

* * *

"You're doing _what_?" Emily asked, very confused and shocked.

"I told you a little about this student before. He said that he wanted to do a joint Charms and Ancient Rune project, but really he just wants to get Scorpius and I together."

It was currently snowing out, and Rose and Emily decided to take a walk. Rose had always been a fan of the snow ever since she was a little girl. Although it was quite cold, Rose didn't mind. She enjoyed seeing snow on the ground and being able to step on it. It was a feeling unlike many.

"And you're okay with being involved in this massive project despite knowing what this student is actually trying to do?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah," Rose chuckled. "I mean Scorpius is really excited about the project, and I know the student won't be successful in his ultimate goal, _obviously_. So there's no harm or anything."

"What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing?" Emily practically yelled, punctuating every word.

"What do you mean?"

"Rose Weasley, you are the biggest enigma I have ever met! You continue to say that you don't have feelings for Scorpius, and that you want to interact with him as little as possible, but then you do stuff like this! Why would you put so much time into helping this student who doesn't care about the actual project at all if you have no interest in Scorpius?"

"Look. I've told you how I feel about Scorpius and it's not gonna change. So that's why I find the whole thing so funny!"

Rose knew she wasn't really making sense, but she didn't know what else to say. She was telling Emily the truth (or at least what she believed).

"Rose, you're blind if you don't see what's between you and Scorpius. You two used to date, and not that long ago you kissed. You can lie all you want, but I'm not believing you," Emily said, grasping Rose's hand and squeezing it.

"Em, I swear. There is nothing between Scorpius and I."

"He must've hurt you badly for you not to see it."

Rose looked towards the ground, not sure of what to say.

"Yeah, he did. We might have only been 17, but I was destroyed when he ended things."

Emily sighed, not knowing how to get through to Rose. Maybe she just wouldn't be able to.

"I think he's changed, Rose. I mean he's kind and intelligent, and he just can't stop smiling when you're around. I think you make him better. And I think he makes you better, too."

"Emily Elaine Farrell, you're insane!" And not wanting to listen to her anymore, Rose picked up some snow from the ground and threw it at Emily, hoping it would hit her square in the chest. Not being great at throwing, it hit Emily right in the face. Emily screamed before starting to giggle.

"Rose, I am going to kill you!" Emily made a snow ball and threw it at Rose. Rose retreated behind a bench, grabbing more snow to retaliate. Emily did the same, hoping to beat Rose once and for all. When both of them kept missing the other, not being good at actually throwing the snowballs, they subsided into a laughing fit. They were two grown women, engaged in a snowball fight. And yet, it had been the most fun they'd had in weeks.

 **Please review, favorite, and follow. Thanks!**


	11. Family and Lies

**Hi guys. Here's another chapter! :) A lot is revealed in this one which will play into the rest of the story. Hope you enjoy and please remember to review, follow, and favorite!**

 _I know who I am when I'm alone_  
 _I'm something else when I see you_  
 _You don't understand, you should never know_  
 _How easy you are to need_

 _Don't let me in with with no intention to keep me_  
 _Jesus Christ! Don't be kind to me._  
 _Honey don't feed me - I will come back._

 _"It Will Come Back" Hozier_

Rose sat in the Great Hall with Emily, enjoying the sandwich that was before her. The house elves, who of course were paid, really did make the best sandwiches and Rose was not about to let it go to waste.

"I'm just saying," Emily started, making Rose pay attention to something other than her sandwich, "I really have a feeling that Victoire is going to have a girl. Don't ask me why, but I just think I'm right." Rose laughed.

"Em, you always think you're right! Besides, my guess is a boy, but we'll have to wait a while to find out."

Vic and Teddy had decided to keep the gender of the baby a surprise, and everyone would find out when Victoire gave birth. Granted, this made planning a little more difficult, but no one seemed to really mind. It was an exciting time!

Deciding she couldn't wait, Rose took another bite of her sandwich, stuffing way too much into her mouth. It was her luck that Scorpius would appear at that very moment, coming straight up to her.

"Hi, Scorpius, would you like to sit down?" Emily offered, hoping she could force a sweet moment between Rose and Scorpius.

"Actually I can't. Rose, aren't you forgetting about something?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

Hmm, what was she forgetting? Besides having two more classes to teach, Rose couldn't think of anything else she was supposed to do. Except…

"Oh _shit_ ," Rose said. But since she still had a copious amount of her sandwich in her mouth, her words came out muffled and incomprehensible. But Rose remembered what she had forgotten: she was supposed to be having her first meeting with Mitchell Laurence and Scorpius about Mitchell's Ancient Runes and Charms project. The one where he was conspiring to get Rose and Scorpius together. Great.

"So?" Scorpius wondered aloud.

"Let's go! Merlin, I'm sorry I forgot, Scorpius. It completely slipped my mind," Rose replied, standing up and stuffing the rest of the sandwich in her mouth.

When Rose arrived at the library, she saw Mitchell sitting at a table in the back, a grin already on his face.

"Mr. Laurence, I apologize for my tardiness," Rose said.

"It's okay, Professor Weasley. Besides, it didn't take much convincing to get Professor Malfoy to go and find you. He volunteered so quickly; I blinked and he was gone."

Scorpius seemed to have choked on air when he heard this, unable to really comprehend if the student in front of him had really just said that. Instead of addressing it, Scorpius started discussing the project at hand, hoping he had just heard Mitchell wrong.

"Okay, Mr. Laurence, have you made any progress so far?" Scorpius asked.

"Umm… well I looked at the runes last night and I got all of the books that might help me out from underneath my bed."

"Well that might be _something_ , but this project is going to take a lot of work, so please attempt to have _something substantial_ done by our next meeting," Scorpius lightly scolded him.

Rose rolled her eyes, knowing this whole project was a farce. Mitchell would have to eventually do all of this work, but for now he was going to procrastinate as much as he could. Scorpius pointed to a specific rune and asked Mitchell to translate it. When he struggled, Scorpius grabbed his book and helped him without giving him the answer. He would never learn if the solution was given to him.

"Professor Malfoy, wouldn't you say that Professor Weasley is looking quite beautiful today?" Mitchell asked, trying to stop Scorpius from making him do work.

Scorpius, again, was flustered. What the bloody hell was going on? Why was he being pushed to compliment Rose? And from a student! He was used to Emily baiting him like this, but really! And Scorpius couldn't tell a student to _just shut up_ like he often said to Emily. In short, he was confused on what to say and do.

"Well, uh, Mr. Laurence, I don't think that's appropriate to be talking about when we should be focused on the task at hand," Scorpius said, trying to keep calm.

"It's okay, Professor. I get it; you can't admit it in front of her or anything," Mitchell teased.

" _Mr. Laurence_ ," Rose said in a testy tone, knowing Scorpius was soon to lose his cool.

"So, can you help explain the meaning behind this charm, Professor Weasley?" Mitchell asked, as if he had said nothing wrong.

"Ahh, the Vagenturus Charm. It's very similar to a Confundus Charm, but it's not used as often anymore. From what I've read on it, the charm tends to last longer than a simple Confundus, and in some cases can lead to memory issues."

"That's interesting," Scorpius said. "I'd never heard of that Charm before. Where did you learn about that?"

"A book I got last year: _Ancient Charms in Modern Times_. I could let you borrow it if you want," Rose replied, tucking a strand of her curly hair behind her ear.

Rose was surprised that Scorpius was taking an interest in Charms. Based on their previous conversations, recently and many years before, Charms had never really been a subject that fascinated him. Mitchell coughed, reminding the two professors that _he_ was also there.

"You know, Professor Malfoy, someone brought up Ancient Runes in Charms class last week, and Professor Weasley could not stop talking about you! Really, for ten minutes, she went on talking about how you're such a wonderful teacher and more students ought to take Ancient Runes."

Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. Mitchell was being ridiculous (even though she had talked about Ancient Runes and Scorpius a few days ago with her sixth years, but only for a minute or so!). However, Rose did blush slightly, but she couldn't think of why. Curse her fair cheeks! Now Scorpius was probably thinking that what Mitchell was saying was true.

But that was far from the truth. In fact, Scorpius was done. One or two comments was one thing, but now the situation was just getting absurd. It seemed Mitchell was more focused on dropping innuendos than he was on his project.

"Alright, Mr. Laurence, I think we're done here for today. But I'd like to speak to you, for a moment." Scorpius nodded toward the Herbology section, wanting Mitchell to follow. He gave Rose a brief smile before he left, presuming she would leave.

But she didn't. Rose waited until both Scorpius and Mitchell were by the Herbology section, and she stood a little bit a way, behind a bookshelf. Her view of the pair was blocked, but she could easily hear them.

Yes it sounded stupid for Rose, a professor, to eavesdrop, but she really wanted to know what Mitchell and Scorpius were talking about. Rose could be quite nosy when it came to it.

"Mr. Laurence, I just don't understand what was up with you today! But I won't tolerate it, and I doubt Professor Weasley will either!"

Rose was somewhat worried that Mitchell would reveal to Scorpius that she knew about Mitchell's ulterior motive. Maybe that's why she was eavesdropping on them. But even if he did say something, what would she do? Reveal herself? That would make things worse.

Mitchell chuckled, thinking Scorpius was being somewhat dense. Rose had practically figured out his plan the moment he suggested the project and yet Scorpius didn't see it at all.

"I've seen the way you look at her, Professor Malfoy. And I've seen the way she looks at you, too. So I thought, maybe, if we all spent a lot of time together on this project, I, uhh, might get you two together."

Scorpius looked at Mitchell hard, not sure what to think. And then he thought about how ridiculous that sounded. And yet, he knew Mitchell was telling the truth. Scorpius was baffled.

Rose anxiously waited for Scorpius's response. Would he be mad? Laugh, like she did? Since she couldn't see his facial expression, and only hear what was going on, she wasn't sure what to think. After what felt like an hour of silence, Scorpius finally responded.

"Mr. Laurence, not only is that highly inappropriate, but completely false! I trust you'll believe me when I say Professor Weasley has no such feelings for me, and I expect your behavior and attitude to be better by next lesson."

"And what about your feelings?" Mitchell asked Scorpius, but he had already left. However, on his way out, he nearly ran into Rose, who ducked behind a pile of books in order to not be seen. Rose breathed a sigh of relief, wondering if the day could get any stranger.

* * *

 _January 15, 2012 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose was especially tired after the Transfiguration exam she had earlier in the day. So she was happy that she was patrolling the halls with Scorpius. She had thanked Merlin ever since Scorpius convinced the Head Boy, Neil Willington, to switch his patrol schedule so that he could patrol with Rose. Now things were just so much easier and better._

 _Rose grabbed her boyfriend's hand as they walked past the Ravenclaw common room. She whined, tired of patrolling. Although she was glad she was with Scorpius, she still just wanted to go to bed and sleep._

 _"Can't we just end early today?" Rose asked, hoping she could convince her boyfriend. Scorpius chuckled, knowing Rose was acting like a little kid, and yet he still found it cute. All the little things about her were adorable._

 _"What would McGonagall do if she heard we abandoned our posts early?" Scorpius joked._

 _"I think she'd understand, considering the worst we're going to find is a few students in the broom closets."_

 _"Ahh, yes, the dreaded broom closets," Scorpius replied. "See that's why I like being a prefect. I don't need to hide in some silly broom closet after curfew. I can kiss my girlfriend in the middle of the hall if I want to!"_

 _Just to prove his point, Scorpius pulled Rose close to him and brushed his lips against hers. Rose giggled, finding Scorpius's weird sense of humor endearing. Rather than stopping, this only made Scorpius want to continue kissing Rose. He gripped her tighter as she grabbed his almost silver hair._

 _"Isn't this the type of behavior we're, ahh, supposed to be stopping?" Rose asked as Scorpius attached his lips to her neck._

 _"Yes," he said between kisses, "but the difference is there's no prefect to catch us. And that's my favorite part."_

 _Rose couldn't help but roll her eyes. To those who didn't really know Scorpius, he seemed suave and smooth, but really he was just a big dork. But at least he was her big dork. Rose kissed his cheek, realizing they needed to stop before things got out of hand. Especially since they were in the middle of the hallway where anyone could see them._

 _"Come on, you idiot. Let's finish patrolling."_

* * *

Rose could not believe how quickly the holiday break was going by. Most of the students had left Hogwarts for break, and it seemed weird for her to only see other professors and a few students. The first night Flitwick had made space in the Great Hall and there was just one table in the middle. It was nice to eat with students, and Rose made sure that she didn't sit by either Emily or Scorpius, just in case they said something to her that she didn't want students to hear. Only five students stayed at Hogwarts: Mitchell Laurence, two third year Gryffindors, a seventh year Hufflepuff, and a fourth year Slytherin.

Now it was only three days before Christmas and she still had some shopping to do. She still needed to buy presents for Lily and her father. Since they were often the easiest two to buy for, Rose had procrastinated on actually getting them something. Rose had a few hours where she didn't need to be in the castle, so she decided to go down to Hogsmeade and go shopping. She planned on stopping at Gladrags Wizardwear first, and hopefully she could find what she was looking for.

The cold wind made Rose regret not wearing a heavier jacket, but she trudged onward. However, the ambience and heat coming from the Three Broomsticks called to Rose. Rose promised herself that if she went in she would only allow herself to have one drink and then she would be on her way, ready to shop. After mentally reviewing her options, she decided to go with it and go get a warm butterbeer. Rose breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the door to the Three Broomsticks and instantly felt better. However, that moment of happiness immediately went away when she saw a familiar face at a nearby table. And as much as she wanted to hide, she knew that she had already been seen.

"Rose Weasley! Oh, please do come over here!"

Now there was no way of getting out of this. A deep red blush appeared on Rose's face as she walked toward the table, but there was nothing she could do.

"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy, it's wonderful to see you again," Rose said, as she reached the table Astoria Malfoy and Scorpius were sitting at. She tried not to look at Scorpius, knowing this was awkward. It was one thing interacting with Scorpius all the time, but his mother?

Rose could not believe this. When Rose and Scorpius were dating, Mrs. Malfoy had been _so nice_ to her (especially since not all of Scorpius's family members had been so kind). So even though she liked Mrs. Malfoy, she had hoped to never see her again after her and Scorpius broke up. It would be too weird. But here she was, right in front of her.

"Rose, please call me Astoria. I know I've told you that a million times before! You know, _someone_ ," Astoria started, glaring at her son, "didn't tell me you were teaching at Hogwarts this year. I only found out a month ago from one of my friends. But I remember that you always wanted to be a professor, so I'm so happy for you!"

Now was Rose's chance to escape before things got worse. At this point she could leave and do a memory charm on herself so she forgot this uncomfortable encounter.

"Thank you, Astoria. Now, I don't want to intrude on your lunch, so I'll-"

"Oh no, Rose, please sit down and join us for a bit! Please? It's been so long since I've seen you and I'd love to catch up."

Rose really wanted to leave. She could just say she didn't have time and head out the door. But Astoria was sweet and cared about Rose, even though she wasn't dating her son anymore. And Rose's own goodness and morals took over.

"Oh, okay. I guess I can sit for a few minutes. But I really do have some shopping to do, so not for too long."

Scorpius refused to glance at Rose, focusing on the food in front of him. If Rose felt awkward, it was nothing compared to what Scorpius was feeling. Him and Rose had fallen into a semi-normal pattern, besides the strange meetings they had with Mitchell every other day. And now he felt like his mother was ruining it all after only having talked to Rose for a few minutes. And he was especially afraid of what his mother could say. Because she could be much, much worse and embarrassing.

"You know, Rose, I was devastated when you and Scorpius broke up," Astoria continued, not realizing that no one else at the table wanted to talk at all, let alone about this. "I know you two were young, but I was very sad. I did always hope that you two would get back together, and although he won't admit it, I know he continued to have feelings for you for a while after you broke up with him."

It took Rose a moment to recognize what Astoria had just said. _After you broke up with him._ _S_ he thought that Rose had broken up with Scorpius? Why in Merlin's awful name did she think that? Did Scorpius tell her that?

"I, uh-" Rose started, but didn't really know what to say.

" _Mother_ ," Scorpius warned, the first words he had said since Rose arrived.

"What? It's true, Scorpius. I mean you haven't _really_ even dated again, but I guess that's a different conversation for another time," Astoria teased.

Rose was still caught up on what Astoria had said previously. Why had Scorpius lied to his parents and make Rose seem like the bad guy in the demise of their relationship? The room around her seemed to be spinning and she felt like she needed to reevaluate everything.

"Umm, it was great talking to you and seeing you again, Astoria, but I need to get going."

Not waiting for a response, Rose stood up and rushed out of the Three Broomsticks. Her head was still going a million miles an hour, so she sat down on the bench outside of the inn. Rose closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she opened them, she wasn't alone on the bench.

"Please just hear me out," Scorpius begged, wanting to explain himself to Rose.

"Damnit, Scorpius. Every time I feel myself getting closer to you and putting our past behind us, you do stupid shit like this that makes me go back to not trusting you and not wanting to interact with you at all!"

"Look, I don't have a good explanation, but it's something. _Please_." Rose pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded, wanting him to at least try to make her understand. "My family, my mother especially _loved_ you. So it's dumb, but I told them that you broke up with me so we wouldn't need to talk about the ending of our relationship. Because if I told them the truth, we would've had to discuss a lot of stuff I didn't want to talk about. Stuff I can't even put into words now. So, I lied and took the easy way out. And for that, I'm sorry."

Rose was still confused, but now she had a little more clarity. She was still pissed at Scorpius, but she couldn't say she would've done anything differently in his shoes, especially with his family dynamics. It was hard to say. And now where did this put her and Scorpius? Rose had trust issues, and she knew now more doubt would linger in the back of her head anytime she talked to Scorpius. And she didn't want that, but she knew it wouldn't go away.

"I get it. It wasn't right, what you did, but I understand. Just give me some time and space to think about things."

Rose just needed a day or two where she didn't have to see Scorpius. To think about everything and evaluate. Things and moments like this made her wonder why she wasn't a Ravenclaw.

"Okay. Bye, Rose."

Even though Scorpius made questionable decisions at times, all Rose knew was that he really loved his family and would do anything for them. No matter what.

* * *

 _April 2, 2023 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose had been looking everywhere for Scorpius. After he left dinner early after receiving a letter, she knew that something was wrong. Rose had looked in the library, the kitchens, and even asked a Slytherin if they had seen Scorpius in the common room; however, he wasn't in any of those locations. Finally, Rose had went to Al, asking him to borrow the map. She normally disapproved of Albus using the Marauder's Map, but in this case she felt it was worth it. Yeah she was a hypocrite, but whatever._

 _After she found Al and he relinquished the map, Rose saw that Scorpius was at the owlery. So Rose made the trek to owlery hoping Scorpius would be okay. When she saw Scorpius, he was hunched over, sitting on the ground. Rose walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched, not having seen Rose._

 _"Scor, are you okay?"_

 _"Yeah. I just got a letter from my grandfather."_

 _"Oh."_

 _Rose was not a fan of Scorpius's grandfather, Lucius Malfoy. When Rose had met Scorpius's family in December, everyone had been especially kind to her, except Lucius. Lucius Malfoy made it clear the moment they met that he did not like Rose. And Rose had made it equally clear that she would not tolerate being belittled, most of all from Lucius._

 _So needless to say, Rose did not have the best relationship with Lucius. And Scorpius was more than fine with that. Scorpius didn't really like his grandfather either, but he put up with him for the sake of his family._

 _"Yeah," Scorpius said, filling the silence._

 _Anytime Rose asked Scorpius about his grandfather and the role he played in their family, he would change the subject. It was something he didn't often like to discuss._

 _"What did the letter say?" Rose whispered, sitting down beside Scorpius._

 _"Nothing. I mean, I just don't want to talk about it."_

 _"Okay."_

 _"It's just," he started, beginning to get angry, "why does he have to control everything?"_

 _"Scorpius," Rose said, soothingly, "I don't know what you're talking about."_

 _Scorpius took a deep breath before responding. He had never told Rose about this side of his family, but he felt like he needed to._

 _"My family means everything to me, you know that. Despite everything that my family has done, my parents put their past behind him and always put me first. And I know they would do anything for me. But my grandfather, he's different. You know that. And regardless of the horrible crimes he committed and the prejudice I know he still has, he controls the Malfoy fortune and name anyway."_

 _"Oh."_

 _"So my parents put up with him, not wanting to risk losing the fortune. And the crazy part is they don't do it so they can have the money. I think they do it so that not matter what happens, I'll be set in the future. I think they do it for me. And I put up with my grandfather for them! It's this insane messed cycle that never ends!"_

 _Rose knew that Scorpius didn't care about his family's fortune. That never mattered to him. But his parents did. It made sense that he put up with his grandfather to keep his parents happy._

 _"Is there anything I can do? I mean, I'm sure my mother could look into it and maybe she could help-"_

 _"No. Look. Please, just don't tell anyone. There's a reason I don't talk about this, and there's nothing anyone can do. I just have to deal with it."_

 _Rose sat there stunned. She couldn't imagine having to deal with all of this. And she also couldn't believe that Scorpius had kept this to himself for so long. But she understood._

 _"You know this doesn't change anything, right?" Rose said, trying to assure Scorpius she wouldn't run, just because of this. "My family's pretty crazy, too. I'm here for you. This doesn't matter to me."_

 _Rose would deal with Lucius Malfoy forever if that was what it took. She would do whatever she needed to for Scorpius, for his family._

 _"But it does matter, Rose. It matters to me." Scorpius glanced at Rose, seeing the confusion and slight hurt in her eyes. But he couldn't talk to her about this anymore. He had never told anyone all of this, and it was just too much at the moment. Scorpius left the owlery, leaving Rose to sit there and think about everything her boyfriend had just revealed to her._


	12. The Bracelet

**Hi guys! I don't think I've ever written a chapter that's so tied together. You'll see what I mean. Anyway, I hope you like it. Please review, favorite, and follow! Give me your predictions and opinions. :)**

 _Got a golden smile, heart overflow_ _  
_ _But got us in love, but it wasn't enough_

 _What can I do? What can I do?_ _  
_ _To get back to your heart_ _  
_ _I'd swim the Mississippi river_ _  
_ _If you would give me another start, girl_

 _"_ _Better Man" Leon Bridges_

Rose woke up on December 25, not believing that it was actually Christmas. Time had gone by so quickly, and it was already her favorite day of the year. Getting out of bed, she smiled as she saw presents on her table. Rose had already promised Vic and Teddy that they would all open presents together, so she would have to wait until later to see what everyone got her. It slightly bothered Rose, especially since she hated surprises and not knowing things right away. Without opening them, Rose could already tell that she had presents from her parents, Hugo, Albus, Lily, and Emily.

Okay, looking at the presents and not being able to open them was killing Rose. She was like a little kid who couldn't wait for their parents to wake up on Christmas. Realizing there was only one solution, Rose left her room and headed to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. She couldn't stay in her room any longer with all of those gifts!

Although it was barely six in the morning, Rose was hungry. Plus if she was actually going to wait for Vic and Teddy to wake up (and they were late sleepers) she would definitely need some coffee in her system. Since it was very early, no one else was in the Great Hall when she sat down. Thankfully, there was French toast and coffee on the table, so she really couldn't complain. The house elves had really gone all out for Christmas morning!

After stuffing about three pieces of French toast into her mouth, she heard someone else coming into the Great Hall.

"Can I sit here?"

Rose looked up and saw Scorpius standing beside her. She nodded, and he sat down. Rose hadn't seen or talked to Scorpius since she had run into him and his mother three days ago. When Astoria Malfoy revealed that Scorpius had lied to his parents and said that Rose broke up with him.

She was glad that Scorpius had given her a little space, and actually listened to what she asked for once. And she had given a lot of thought to what Scorpius had said. Although she wasn't sure how much she could trust him, although it had been that way for years, Rose wasn't going to go on ignoring or hating him. Scorpius's actions were wrong, yes, but he did them because he thought it was best for his family. She couldn't fully fault him for that. Rose was going to act rational around Scorpius for once. Yeah right.

* * *

 _December 25, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Rose could not believe it was Christmas. Christmas, by far, was her favorite holiday and it always seemed to sneak up on her! She knew the presents would already be downstairs, and she desperately wanted to open them all. However, before she could even get out of bed, she heard a pecking on her window. Opening the window up, she saw it was Scorpius's owl, Matilda, who had a present with her. Rose gave Matilda a treat, and the owl subsequently dropped the gift on Rose's bed._

 _Rose had sent Scorpius's present over to him the night before. She had gotten him a book on Ancient Egypt since he was likely to travel to one day, wanting to be a curse breaker and all. Realizing the rest of her family was asleep, and no one could scold her for doing so, Rose ripped the wrapping paper off of Scorpius's gift, revealing a medium-sized velvet box. Taking off the lid, Rose was astonished to see a silver bracelet with little sapphire jewels. Without a doubt, it was the most beautiful thing Rose had ever seen._

 _Knowing she would get in trouble, but not caring for the first time in her life, Rose grabbed her broom out of the closet and flew out the window. She would fly to Scorpius's house to thank him in person. Besides, it would only take her ten minutes to fly there. Sure, Rose had never met his parents (they were planning on doing that later during their holiday break), but this was a good idea. Maybe she should have sent a letter first, but it was too late for that!_

 _Rose could see Malfoy Manor in the distance, so she sped up. She flew up to the house, but wasn't sure what to do. Should she knock on the door and hope someone was awake? Hope that Scorpius would answer the door? Thankfully, Rose didn't have to do anything because Scorpius came downstairs and opened the front door for her._

 _"What are you doing here? I just looked out of my window and saw this ball of red hair flying toward the manor!" he chuckled._

 _"I opened your present," she said, pointing to the bracelet on her wrist. "and I didn't want to wait three days to thank you."_

 _"That's wonderful. Merry Christmas," he said, giving her a quick kiss. "Now-"_

 _"Scorpius what are you doing out here? And who's this?" Rose turned toward the door and saw a dark haired woman standing in the doorway._

 _"Mom, this is Rose," Scorpius said awkwardly. This definitely wasn't the introduction he imagined._

 _"Rose Weasley, it's so nice to meet you," Mrs. Malfoy exclaimed, giving Rose a big hug. "I'm Scorpius's mother, but please call me Astoria! I know we weren't set to meet you for a few more days, but please come into our home! Would you like some breakfast? I've made some pancakes and French toast, but if you don't like those I'm sure I can make something-"_

 _"Mom," Scorpius groaned, stopping his mother._

 _"That all sounds lovely, Mrs. Malfoy. I'd love to come inside for breakfast," Rose said with a smile on her face. "But I really do need to get back to my family, so I can't stay too long."_

 _Astoria invited Rose inside and motioned toward their dining room table. Rose took a seat next to Scorpius, subtlety looking around the room._

 _"I see we have a guest."_

 _"Father, this is, uhh, Rose."_

 _Draco Malfoy stared at Rose for a moment, as if assessing her. Rose glanced at Draco, not sure what to think. But much like Scorpius, she saw a glint of joy in his steel grey eyes._

 _"Miss Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you," Draco said, shaking Rose's hand. "I'm happy that you'll be joining us for breakfast. Then we'll be able to learn more about you; although I must admit that Scorpius cannot shut up about you."_

 _Rose smiled, liking the way Draco was slightly teasing his son. Scorpius scowled at his father, not wanting Draco to embarrass him. Astoria did that enough._

 _"Breakfast is ready!" Astoria exclaimed, floating all of the various dishes into the room. "Now, Rose, I know you said you like pancakes and French toast, but I thought I'd make eggs too!"_

 _Draco and Scorpius both rolled their eyes at Astoria, but Rose couldn't help but smile. Astoria was one of the sweetest people she had ever met. And Draco seemed different. Different from how her family had always described him. In fact, she quite liked Draco and saw a lot of Scorpius in him. In short, Rose thought everything was going wonderfully. She loved his family and nothing could ruin this morning._

 _"Now, let's eat! I'm not sure if we're expecting-"_

 _"Well, well, well. I see we have a special guest." It was ironic. The wording had been almost the same as Draco's and yet this time it sounded so malicious and sinister._

 _Scorpius took a deep breath in, squeezing Rose's hand. This was the only person who could actually ruin everything. Noticing Scorpius's reaction and based off of his appearance, Rose could only assume this was Lucius Malfoy in front of her._

 _"Father," Draco began, "I did not know that you would be joining us."_

 _Rose noticed that everyone seemed quite tense around Lucius. Of course, Scorpius had not told her the details, but she presumed that Lucius was not everyone's favorite person._

 _"I just thought that I might stop by this morning. Now, you must be Rose Weasley. I have heard so much about you. I must admit, I'm shocked that your parents approve of this little relationship."_

 _Rose did not exactly like the way Lucius was talking to her, and about her family, but she wasn't sure what to say in return._

 _"My parents know that I care for Scorpius and they know how wonderful he is to me. So I'm not sure why they wouldn't approve."_

 _"Why don't we all grab some more to eat!" Astoria suggested, trying to diffuse the tension. She didn't want this to end badly for Scorpius just because his grandfather was a prick._

 _"Lovely," Lucius said, not really listening to Astoria. "So, Miss Weasley, what do you hope to accomplish after you graduate?"_

 _"I'd love to teach at Hogwarts one day. My favorite subject is Charms, so I'd say my ultimate goal is to be a Charms professor."_

 _"Oh. A teacher at Hogwarts. How sweet," Lucius replied condescendingly._

 _"Rose will be an excellent professor one day," Scorpius said, trying his best to defend Rose. "She is the most intelligent person I know."_

 _"Yes, I'm sure she takes after her brilliant mother," Lucius rolled his eyes._

 _Just hearing Lucius talk about her mother made Rose uncomfortable. She couldn't put her finger on why; it just did. Rose grabbed some more food, hoping it would deter Lucius from asking more "questions" (which she felt like was really just condescending amusement for himself)._

 _"How is your mother, the Minister? It's been so long since I've seen her," Lucius said with what Rose could only describe as an evil grin._

 _"She's fine, thanks."_

 _Draco wasn't sure if he should intervene. Even if he did, he wasn't sure what he could say or do. But the last thing he wanted was for Rose Weasley to leave, and never talk to his son again, just because of his father._

 _"And your father? I've been told he works at a joke shop. How charming."_

 _"Yes. He works at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It's quite successful, I'm sure you know," Rose replied, not taking her eyes off of Lucius._

 _This was the most defensive she had been thus far. And even though she loved Scorpius, she wouldn't take any crap from his family. Scorpius also didn't expect her to take anything from his grandfather. Just because he often had to didn't mean she had to._

 _"Oh. Well then it's nice to know that the Weasley family is out of that terrible financial situation of poverty they once were in. I remember how difficult it was for them to take care of their children with so little money. It also assures me that you aren't using my grandson for his inheritance."_

 _"Grandfather!" Scorpius could not allow his grandfather to talk to his girlfriend that way. And Scorpius realized that was the first time he had ever yelled at his grandfather. The best part was that Scorpius didn't even care. He would do it a thousand more times if necessary._

 _That was enough for Rose. She would not put up with this anymore._

 _"Now you listen here. I will not allow you to bad mouth my family in any way, shape, or form. My family is one of the strongest and bravest I know, so I will not stand for anyone talking poorly about them, especially you! And as for Scorpius, my feelings for him have absolutely nothing to do with the Malfoy fortune. And if you actually thought that for one second, you're more delusional than I originally thought."_

 _Rose breathed a sigh of relief, shocked she had said all of that. Draco had a small grin on his face, happy that his son had picked quite a firecracker. Scorpius had a huge smile. His girlfriend was such a badass._

 _"Now, unfortunately I think it's time for me to go," Rose began, giving Scorpius a kiss on the cheek. "Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, it was so nice meeting you. Scorpius, I'll see you soon. I love you."_

 _Rose grabbed her broom and walked out of Malfoy Manor. So her meeting with Scorpius's family had gone well, except for her yelling at Lucius Malfoy. But Rose would have yelled at anyone else who talked about her family that way. And she wasn't going to change who she was just to impress the Malfoys._

 _As she was flying away, Rose looked down at the sapphire bracelet Scorpius had gotten her and it caused her to smile. It was beautiful and Rose knew that Scorpius loved her. And she loved him too._

* * *

"Any plans for Christmas?" Scorpius asked Rose. They were the only two up so they might as well talk.

"No. I mean, Teddy, Vic, and I are all going to open presents together. That's it. What about you? Going to see your family?"

"No real plans. I'll see my parents in a couple of days."

"That sounds nice. What about your grandfather?" Rose wasn't sure why she had asked that. It had just come out.

"I supposed I'll see him too. So," he said, changing the subject, "any bets on who's down here next?"

"Hmm… Maybe Flitwick? I don't know."

"I think it'll be Samuel Edgecombe. He's always up early," Scorpius said, brushing a strand of hair out of his steel eyes. When Rose looked into Scorpius's gray orbs she saw joy and anxiety, but she wasn't sure why. Looking at him reminded Rose how attractive she used to find Scorpius. Well, that wasn't exactly past tense. But regardless of how attractive she found him, Rose refused to let herself fall for him like last time.

* * *

 _May 8, 2023 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Scorpius had broken up with Rose a little over two weeks ago. Although she would never admit it, except to Albus who had been taking care of her, Rose was still pretty distraught. But Rose knew what the next step in moving on would be. Even though she didn't want to do it, because it would be acknowledging that the relationship was fully over, Rose was sure of what she had to do._

 _Rose made her way to Potions class and took her seat next to Albus. She used to sit next to Scorpius, but after they broke up Rose begged Simon O'Leary to switch spots with her. Sitting in the back of the room with Albus was quite different from when she was in the front with Scorpius. But she couldn't complain._

 _Scorpius was already there, and he was chatting with Simon. Rose glanced at him quickly but then looked away, not allowing herself to stare for too long._

 _Slughorn entered the classroom and waddled toward the front of the room. He had a worried look on his face, but that was nothing new. Before he could start class, Scorpius went up to Slughorn's desk, wanting to talk to him. Rose saw this as her chance. Having discussed her plan with Albus before, he promised he would help her out if necessary._

 _Grabbing the velvet box out of her bag, Rose made her way to Scorpius's table eying his bag on the ground. Rose smiled at Simon, trying to initiate a conversation._

 _"Rose, how are you?" Simon asked._

 _"I'm great, how are you?" Rose positioned herself so that she was in front of Scorpius's bag and her hand that held the velvet box was behind her back._

 _While Simon was describing some play he had made in the last Quidditch game, Rose subtly dropped the velvet box into Scorpius's bag. Excusing herself from the rest of the conversation, and before Scorpius came back, she hurried back to her seat._

 _"So did you do it?" Albus asked Rose._

 _"Yes. I returned the bracelet. It's done."_

 _When Scorpius returned to his spot, he noticed something in his bag. Looking inside, he saw a box that definitely wasn't there before. His stomach sunk, pretty sure he knew what was in the box. Wanting to make sure he was right, he opened the box and saw the sapphire bracelet he had given Rose for Christmas. She had given it back to him. And that destroyed Scorpius._

 _He turned around, glancing at Rose. She in the middle of a conversation with her cousin. A brief smile appeared on his face as Rose laughed. He missed that laugh. He missed her._

* * *

So this was the moment he had been waiting for all morning. Scorpius took a deep breath before getting Rose's attention.

"Umm, I hope this isn't too weird, but I got you something," he said, handing her a wrapped present. Rose's eyes were wide, shocked at what she had just heard.

"Oh. I'm sorry; I didn't get you anything."

Rose held the gift in her hand, unsure of what to say. Rose didn't think that they were at a place to be giving each other gifts. But here Scorpius had gone and surprised her!

"Really, it's fine. I didn't expect you to get me anything. I just, I knew- I wanted to give this to you."

"I shouldn't accept this-"

"Please. Please do." Scorpius practically begged. Rose nodded, agreeing she'd take his gift.

"Why don't I open it," Rose said, hoping that would make things a little less awkward.

"Actually, I think I'm going to head back to my room. I'm not very hungry anymore, and I have a lot of papers to grade. Merry Christmas, Rose."

Before Rose could even reply, Scorpius was halfway out of the Great Hall. Rose hurried back to her own room, deciding to open the present when she was back there. Reaching her room and sitting on her bed, Rose ripped the wrapping paper off of the gift to reveal a velvet box. Her stomach felt like it was in knots, as she recognized the box. Opening the lid, she gasped as she saw the sapphire bracelet she had returned to Scorpius years ago.

 _She needed to return the bracelet._ But he had given it back to her. What did that mean? Why the bloody hell would he do that? They weren't dating. Rose wasn't even sure if she could call them friends. Why would he give this back to her, especially since she had returned it to him when they broke up. Rose could not think of a single reason why Scorpius would have given her the bracelet.

And even if she didn't return it to him, she couldn't wear it. The bracelet brought up too many old memories that Rose couldn't allow herself to think about. It would be too strange.

On the other hand, Rose _wanted_ to wear the bracelet despite everything that had happened. Her and Scorpius were making progress, even if it was slow.

When she woke up this morning, Rose never thought she would have to contemplate _so much._ Realizing she wasn't going to be able to make a decision now, Rose placed the bracelet on her dresser.

Seconds later, she heard a very loud knocking on her door. Before she could even get up and answer it, Teddy and Vic barged in and gave her a huge hug.

"Merry Christmas!" they yelled, bringing their gifts into Rose's room. As Victoire placed an abnormally large present on Rose's dresser, she noticed the sapphire bracelet. Vic picked it up and brought it over to Rose as Teddy continued to bring all of their presents into Rose's bedroom.

"Did you open a gift already? Who'd you get this from?" Vic asked Rose.

And now Rose had a choice. And as wrong as it was, she decided to lie.

"What, that old thing? No, I've had this bracelet forever."


	13. Weasley Reunion

**Hi guys. Sorry it's been so long! Hope you** **enjoy this chapter (and please review, favorite, and follow!). Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the next chapter; it's already 75% written! Plus, the next chapter is my favorite. :)**

 _There's a part of me that won't let you go  
I keep sayin' yes but my mind's sayin' no_

 _Me and my heart, we got issues  
Don't know if I should hate you or miss you  
Damn, I wish that I could resist you  
Can't decide if I should slap you or kiss you_

 _Me and my heart we got issues, issues, issues  
We got issues, issues, issues_

 _"Issues" The Saturdays_

It was the day after Christmas, and Rose was going to see her family today. She was so excited. Already having gotten ready, Rose started to leave her room to head to Teddy and Vic's quarters where they would floo to the Burrow. Thankfully, Vic was still able to floo for a few more months, so the trip could be a lot shorter. Hours shorter.

As she closed the door to her quarters, the sapphire bracelet clinked against the metal door handle. Yes, she was wearing the bracelet Scorpius had given her. After having thought about it for hours, Rose didn't see the harm in wearing for just a day. Then she could return it tomorrow if she wanted. Besides, it really didn't matter what she did today since she wouldn't see Scorpius. And she found the bracelet beautiful. So why did it matter what anyone else thought?

Rose was thinking about the conversations she probably would have today. She was very happy to see Albus, but she slightly worried about her interaction with Lily. Lily had the kind of talent where she would get Rose to reveal things that she had planned to keep hidden. And there were definitely things Rose didn't want Lily to know.

Passing the kitchens, and not really paying attention to her surroundings, Rose ran into the person she really didn't want to see. Of course she would. But despite wanting to avoid him, Rose felt like she needed to say something to him.

"Scorpius," Rose said, stopping Scorpius from walking past her. "I, uhh, wanted to thank you for the gift. But I just can't understand why you gave it to me."

"It's really no big deal," he replied, not really answering her quandary. "It's just been sitting around in my trunk so I thought maybe you'd like it."

"I honestly don't know if I can accept this," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. Rose realized it was awkward to say this, especially since she was already wearing the bracelet. Oh well.

"I'd rather you have it than it sit in my trunk for another four years." Scorpius seemed to want to escape the conversation, but Rose wasn't finished.

"I mean, you don't have anyone else you want to give it to? Your mother? A girlfriend-"

"I don't have a girlfriend," he said, not tearing his eyes away from hers.

"But maybe you'll meet someone in the future! I'm just saying, I don't know if I should have this."

"Just keep the bracelet, Rose. I don't want anyone else to have it."

Scorpius walked away before Rose could protest. She was still so confused. If anything, her conversation with Scorpius had muddled things up even more. Realizing there was nothing she could do at the moment, Rose continued onto Teddy and Vic's.

Arriving, and apologizing for being late, they rushed into the fireplace, dropping floo powder on their head and were transported to the Burrow. Before she could step out of the fireplace she was grabbed by her mother and pulled into a big hug.

Two seconds later she was handed a scone by her Grandma Molly, insisting she was way too skinny and needed to eat more. Although she hadn't been there in almost half a year, the Burrow and her family hadn't changed at all.

Rose hadn't even had a moment to say hello to everyone, and she was dragged away by Lily into her Aunt Ginny's old room.

"What are you doing?" Rose protested, wanting to sit down and talk to everyone.

"You'll have time to catch up later," Lily said, "but now it's time for girl talk."

Rose groaned knowing where this was going. She promised herself that she wouldn't reveal anything to Lily, no matter what she did. But Rose often made this promise to herself only moments before breaking it.

"So," Lily began with a glint in her eyes, "how are things?"

"Everything's fine. My students have all really improved since the beginning of the year, which makes me very proud as their professor-"

"No! You know _who_ I'm talking about. _How are things with Scorpius?_ "

"Things are fine. I mean, I barely see and interact with him."

That was a lie. Rose knew that, but she didn't know what else to say to her nosy cousin.

"Oh, silly Rose. You must think I'm stupid," Lily said with a glint in her eyes.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I see you're wearing the bracelet Scorpius gave to you for Christmas all those years ago. And I remember that after you broke up, you returned it to him. Which means he must've given it back to you," she ended with a wide smirk.

Rose took a moment, trying to figure out what she was going to say. Lily kept staring at her, excited to hear her response.

"Look, I'm not lying. I ran into him yesterday and he gave it to me," she said defensively. "I thought about giving it back to him, but he told me that he didn't want anyone else to have it. So, after thinking about this for hours and practically not sleeping, I just decided to wear it. Even though I am confused and don't know what to do."

Lily realized her cousin really didn't know what to do, and it even seemed as if she was terrified.

"I think you should wear it," Lily tried assuring Rose, "but has anything else happened between the two of you? I mean, it seems weird he would just give you this bracelet for no reason."

"Well, I mean…" Rose said, thinking about the kiss they had shared. But she didn't want to tell Lily!

"What?" Lily asked, knowing Rose was hiding something. "Rose! C'mon! Please tell me!"

"Uhhh…"

"I'm just trying to help."

" _TwomonthsagoScorpiusandIkissed,_ " Rose rushed, hoping Lily wouldn't have understood what she said.

"Yes! Yes! I knew it!" Of course, Lily had understood. Just her luck.

"But seriously, it was nothing," Rose added. "We had both drank a lot that night and neither of us were really in the right state of mind. We both admitted it was a mistake and we had just taken things too far." Rose blushed, surprised she was admitting all of this to Lily. But Lily did have that special power.

"You know this is all bullshit, right? From everything you and Em have told me, whatever is between you and Scorpius obviously isn't over," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "You need to stop pretending that you two have no feelings for one another. It'll save you a lot of time and effort."

"Hey! I swear, I really don't-"

"Rose. You need to stop lying to yourself. It's obvious to everyone but you and Scorpius that something is going on. Even Al thinks so and you know how clueless he is!"

"Lil, I can't have feelings for him. He really hurt me last time."

"I know. But I think he's trying to make amends because he's realized that you make him better."

Rose sighed, thinking maybe Lily was just the tiniest bit right.

"Emily has said a lot of similar things," Rose admitted.

"I know. That's why I like her."

* * *

Rose was able to chat with her Aunt Ginny, which was always turned out to be an interesting conversation. Ginny described to Rose the Canons-Magpies game she had covered the week before. Apparently, one of the beaters on the Montrose Magpies had disappeared in the middle of the game, only to be found sitting in the stands an hour later. Rose was sure the story was not that humorous, but Ginny made it sound like the funniest thing she had ever heard.

Before Ginny could ask about how things were going with Rose, Ronald Weasley approached the two women. Just from the look on her father's face, Rose knew that something bad was about to happen. Much like Rose, it was easy to tell what Ron was thinking merely from his facial expressions.

"Rose. I heard you're working with Malfoy," Ron said, getting straight to the point.

"Well…" Rose said, trying to finagle with the truth, "I'd say that working _with_ him is a stretch. He teaches Ancient Runes, I teach Charms. It's not like we spend a lot of time together. It's like saying Mom and Uncle Percy work together just because they are both employed by the Ministry."

"Yeah, sure," Ron said rolling his eyes. "That sounds like something your mother would say. I'm just saying, I don't like you working with him."

Ginny thought this whole conversation was ridiculous, and she had heard Ron say things very similar to her when she had started dating. Besides, Rose could work with anyone she wanted to, regardless of what her father thought.

"I can handle it, Dad. It's not a big deal."

"It's not that you can't handle it, I just know-"

"What are you guys talking about?" Teddy asked, walking up and joining the conversation. Rose thanked Merlin that Teddy had appeared. Maybe that would end this conversation quicker.

"My idiot brother, here," Ginny started, "thinks that it's a horrible idea for Rose to be working with Malfoy since they dated."

Teddy was shocked, surprised that Ron would say such a thing. Granted, Teddy was somewhat biased. He iked Scorpius and considered them friends. Even though him and Rose used to date, he didn't see that as an issue between them. Even though he occasionally noticed how Rose and Scorpius would act around each other. And how they would look at each other. But that didn't make a difference.

"Honestly, despite Rose and Scorpius's history, they get along now just fine. And Scorpius is a good guy. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Okay, so maybe Rose didn't want Teddy to tell her father that her and Scorpius _got along just fine._ But Teddy was helpful.

"Whatever," Ron grumbled. "I doubt that he is _that_ great of a guy. I just don't want you getting hurt, Rosie."

Rose and Ginny rolled their eyes, knowing Ron just wanted what was best for Rose. Even though he was being a little ridiculous.

"Dad, Scorpius isn't that bad. I promise. And even if he was, I can handle things myself."

* * *

 _December 22, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _Scorpius was very nervous. He couldn't believe that today was the day he would meet Rose's family. The Weasleys and Potters had always seemed so infamous that it felt weird to be meeting them in a personal context. He had never idolized them, nothing like that; however, they just seemed untouchable and unreachable in a strange way. Even though he went to school with most members of Rose's family, he still was slightly terrified by most of them._

 _But today wasn't about that. It was about impressing Rose's family, especially her parents. But, of course, he would be thrown to the wolves and have to meet and mingle with all the members of Rose's family. Meaning her grandparents, 5 uncles, 4 aunts, 10 cousins, brother, and parents would all be grilling him. Probably at once._

 _But Rose squeezed his hand as they walked into the Burrow, straight into the lion's den. Scorpius and Rose were immediately ambushed by all of the Weasleys and Potters, each of whom was trying to introduce themselves to Scorpius at the exact same time. Scorpius went around, as Rose introduced him to every member of her very large family. He hoped he could remember everyone's names, but this was a large task._

 _Everyone was excited except for Ronald Weasley, who sat on the purple couch, pretending that this wasn't happening. That her little girl wasn't bringing home her boyfriend to introduce to everyone. And that boyfriend wasn't a Malfoy._

 _But, of course, Ron didn't get his wish. He felt like he never did. Hermione, realizing her husband was acting like a child, went over to the couch and started to scold him._

 _"Ronald Weasley! You see that everyone else in your family is greeting Scorpius with open arms. And yet you're sitting here like a petulant child! What is wrong with you?"_

 _Hermione knew that Ron would always have a grudge against the Malfoys. But this was ridiculous. Scorpius was a good kid; he had done nothing wrong and deserved none of Ron's prejudice._

 _"You bloody know what's wrong. Our daughter brought home a Malfoy. I can't think of a worse tragedy," he replied, not realizing Rose and Scorpius were approaching them._

 _"Really? Because I can think of worse things," Rose said with tears forming in her eyes._

 _"No, Rose, it's okay," Scorpius whispered, assuring his girlfriend that she didn't need to get into a fight with her father over him._

 _"No, it's not okay, Scorpius. Because what my father can't understand is that you've done nothing wrong. Not a damn thing. But because he can't overlook something as stupid as your last name, he's going to be an arse to you. And that's not fair."_

 _Rose wiped her eyes as Scorpius grabbed her hand and her mother came over and patted her on the back. Everyone else was trying to not eavesdrop on conversation happening across the room, but they couldn't._

 _"Look, Rose, I know you wouldn't understand. It's just-"_

 _"It's just what? You taught me to never discriminate against a person because of their blood status, or their past, or anything! And now you won't support Scorpius and I? That's so fucking hypocritical!"_

 _"Look-"_

 _Scorpius coughed and the room fell silent. All eyes were on him._

 _"Mr. Weasley, I would greatly appreciate it if you and I could talk. Alone, perhaps."_

 _"Yes, Malfoy. I think that would be a great idea."_

 _What was Rose's idiotic boyfriend doing? He was going to talk one-on-one with her father. Rose wouldn't be surprised if ten minutes later Ron came back and announced that he had killed Scorpius._

 _But Scorpius knew he needed to do this. Scorpius had to step in and show Mr. Weasley the type of person he really was._

 _Ron motioned outside and Scorpius followed him. Scorpius gave Rose one last look that indicated he would be okay. But Rose wasn't so sure._

 _"Mr. Weasley," Scorpius began once him and Ron sat down by the garden, "I know you're not a big fan of me or my family. I will not condone my family's past or their actions. But, if I'm being honest, none of that matters. The only thing that matters is Rose."_

 _Ron rolled his eyes, thinking that Malfoy definitely must have rehearsed this speech before._

 _"Malfoy, I just don't think I can bloody trust you."_

 _"I love your daughter, Mr. Weasley. Now you might think that I'm just some naïve sixth year, but I know how I feel and I know Rose feels the same way-"_

 _"You have no bloody idea how my daughter feels! She doesn't know her own feelings! She's just seventeen!"_

 _Scorpius figured that now would be a bad time to remind Ron that at 17 he had the same emotions for Hermione that Scorpius had for Rose. And now Ron and Hermione had two kids together._

 _"You don't need to like me," Scorpius said, "but I need you to know that I would never intentionally hurt your daughter. I will do everything in my power to protect her, even when she doesn't want my help. Because I will always do what is best for Rose. No matter what it takes or who I have to hurt."_

 _"You'd do what's best for her, even if it hurts you?" Ron asked, testing what Scorpius was actually saying._

 _"Yes. As long as I knew it was best for Rose. For her I'd do anything."_

* * *

Rose made sure to sit next to Albus at dinner, since she felt like she hadn't seen him all day. Rose often thought about how little she got to see Albus now and it made her sad. She missed her best friend. As if reading her mind, Al started a conversation with Rose about meeting up for drinks soon.

"I know it's hard for you to leave the Hogwarts grounds, and since I don't have a game on Saturday, I wouldn't mind going to the Three Broomsticks on Friday. You know, like old times," Albus suggested, wiping his jet-black hair away from his eyes.

"Al, you don't know how much I would love that."

"Yeah, I figured you would," he chuckled. "I mean, I miss you Rosie, and I wish we could spend more time together."

"Me too. Nothing would make me happier," Rose said, a smile etched on her face. She couldn't think of any place she'd rather be, than surrounded by her family. But, of course, Albus had to break her out of her happy realization.

"Umm, so I didn't know how to bring this up earlier, but I see you're wearing the bracelet. The one, I remember, you gave back to Scorpius all those years ago."

"And?" Rose asked, hoping Albus would drop the subject. She already had to answer these questions with Lily earlier today.

And with Albus it was different. It wasn't like "girl talk" with Lily. Albus could read Rose like a book. So although she always wanted to tell Albus everything, it meant showing Albus _all_ of her emotions. And she wasn't sure if she could do that. Not now, anyway.

"So I presume Scorpius gave it back to you?"

Rose nodded, confirming Albus's theory.

"Are you dating him again?"

Rose shook her head back and forth.

"Then why are you wearing it?"

Rose shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"You must have something to say."

"I mean, Scorpius just gave it to me. He said he wanted me to have it. And I'm not _always_ going to wear it or anything. It's just beautiful and I wanted it with me today. It's nothing, really."

"Damn it, Rose." Albus rarely cursed, and Rose could tell he wasn't pleased with her decision. "You and I both know it's not nothing. Things between you and Scorpius are never _nothing._ Just him and that bracelet have given you more trouble than it's worth."

Rose nodded, agreeing with Albus. Scorpius normally brought something in his wake that Rose would have to deal with after he left. And Albus just didn't want Rose to get hurt again. He wanted her to be happy. Whether that meant hexing or dating Malfoy. Of course, he had a preference between those two options. He just wasn't sure if Rose did.


	14. Secrets Revealed

**Hi guys! Sorry it took me so long to put out another chapter! But here it is, and I think a lot of you will be happy with it. :) I reference a few moments from past chapters (not flashbacks, but they're in italics). Only a few chapters left in the story. Please let me know and leave a review.**

 _If you dream of me_  
 _Like I dream of you_  
 _In a place that's warm and dark_  
 _In a place where I can feel the beating of your heart_

 _Remembering_  
 _Your touch_  
 _Your kiss_  
 _Your warm embrace_  
 _I'll find my way back to you_  
 _If you'll be waiting_

 _"The Promise" Tracy Chapman_

Rose groaned as she waited with Scorpius for Mitchell Laurence to arrive for their meeting. Because of Christmas, they hadn't met the past couple of days. But now they were getting back into a regular schedule where they planned to meet every other day again.

But now things were awkward. Because both Scorpius and Rose knew why Mitchell was pursuing this project. And yet they were continuing on with it. Because neither one wanted to admit to knowing about Mitchell's ulterior motives as that would bring up an even more awkward conversation that neither Rose nor Scorpius wanted to have.

Instead, Rose and Scorpius chatted about the weather and Quidditch. Because these were the only topics they could think of. Scorpius noticed that Rose wasn't wearing her bracelet today. And his stomach dropped a little, hoping that she hadn't thrown it out or anything. But she had worn it the day after Christmas, when he saw her that morning. So that was a sign, right?

Finally, about twenty minutes after he was supposed to arrive, Mitchell sat down at the table with Rose and Scorpius.

"Well, Mr. Laurence," Rose began, not amused, "is there a reason you're close to twenty minutes late?"

"You see, Professor, I was going to be here right at 10:00, but then I seemed to misplace my notebook. And I felt bad, I really did, but then I thought that you two would be able to keep each other company. But it's great to see you both. Professor Malfoy, wouldn't you say that Professor Weasley looks quite beautiful today?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, not believing that a student could actually think of this stuff. But then, realizing that Mitchell would only continue and there was nothing he could do to stop him, Scorpius had an idea. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Scorpius gave Rose a look that indicated _follow my lead, this should be good._

Rose nodded, wondering what Scorpius was going to do. But looking back, some of Rose's favorite moments with Scorpius were these times when he would get a playful streak like this.

"Yes, I'd say Professor Weasley does look quite ravishing today," Scorpius said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh," Mitchell stuttered, "well, ahh, that's good to hear."

 _Oh._ So _this_ was his idea. Rose giggled, feeling like a little kid. They were going to play along with Mitchell's silly idea. _Fine. She could play along too._

"And of course, Mr. Mitchell, we must also discuss how _handsome_ Professor Malfoy is," Rose said, trying to keep a straight face. "I mean, _his hair_. I just can't get over it!"

And now Rose was just teasing him. She _knew_ that he had always been self-conscious about his hair. Many people thought that it was one of his best features, but he couldn't get over how _blonde and floppy_ it was. Scorpius quickly stuck his tongue out at her when Mitchell wasn't looking.

Mitchell was just beyond confused. Yes, he thought this plan would work, but not this fast! Not only that, but was it actually working? Or were his two professors just messing with him?

"Oh, okay," Mitchell said, not sure of what to do. "Wh-why don't we go over a few of these runes I translated last night."

"Of course, Mr. Laurence. But before that, I think we need to discuss how intelligent Professor Weasley is!" Scorpius said, stifling a laugh.

"Oh no, Professor Malfoy. I mean your charisma and wit surely matches my brains!"

"But your eyes are blue like the sea! I could stare into them for hours!"

"And your _smile._ I mean-"

"Your freckles-"

"Your dimples!"

Now Rose and Scorpius were just going overboard. But it was so funny that they felt like they couldn't stop. It was ridiculous, but it was fun.

Unfortunately, Mitchell had had enough. Now that he knew that the professors were practically mocking his plan, he would need to reevaluate. Besides, he decided he could take a nap back in the Slytherin common room. When Rose and Scorpius were too busy giving each other fake compliments, Mitchell snuck out of the library.

When Rose and Scorpius realized Mitchell was gone, they descended into a fit of laughter. Rose wiped her eyes, giggling so much that tears were appearing. In fact, they were so loud that Rose was surprised no one came and yelled at them. Even though they were professors.

"Well," Rose began once she was done laughing, "this was fun. Thanks. You really made my day."

"Anytime," Scorpius replied, a goofy grin on his face.

Rose felt a blush creep upon her cheeks, so she excused herself, telling Scorpius she'd see him later. Rose had to admit to herself that she missed times like this. She missed how they would laugh together and just Scorpius's joking nature. Not a lot of people saw that side of him, but she loved it. _Shit._ She didn't love anything about them. She just missed this. Sometimes Rose wished she was back in sixth year again. When things were simpler and she was really happy. Happy with Scorpius.

* * *

Rose sat at the bar, waiting for Albus to arrive. She was so excited that her and Albus had made plans to meet, and finally it was Friday. Rose had been looking forward to this all week. Although she saw Albus at the Burrow after Christmas, it was different because it wasn't just the two of them. Now it was Rose and Albus time, just like the old days. Merlin, she was only 21 and she was already referring to the _old days._ What was wrong with her?

"Is that Rose Weasley?"

Rose turned around and smiled as she saw Al approaching the bar. She gave her cousin a big hug, so happy that he was here.

"How's your week been?" Rose asked.

"Fine. Wood's been kicking my ass."

Oliver Wood was the coach for Puddlemere United, the Quidditch team Albus was on.

"Well that means you better win on Tuesday," she teased.

Albus explained to Rose the training regime he had gone through the past few weeks. Wood had a specific diet they had to adhere to (he already told Rose he couldn't have more than one glass of firewhiskey) and they had been working out a ridiculous amount of hours. It made Albus's training schedule for the Gryffindor team during his seventh year seem like kid's play.

"How are things at Hogwarts?"

"They're good. I can't complain."

"How is _he_?" Albus asked.

Rose knew who Albus was talking about but she chose not to respond and just shrugged her shoulders instead. Rose was aware of the fact that the only reason why Albus hated Scorpius was because of her. Because he had broken up with her and Rose had been quite distraught. Before Rose and Scorpius had dated, and even while they were dating, Scorpius and Albus had been friendly. Maybe they could even be considered friends.

But when Scorpius had ended things, Albus had sworn to hate him like he had no other. Albus was far from a malicious person; in fact, Rose was often shocked that Al hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff. But Albus went out of his way during seventh year to be rude and mean to Scorpius.

If there was anyone Rose didn't want to think or talk about right now, it was Scorpius. Especially with Albus. She wasn't mad at Scorpius or anything. She was just confused like she always was around him. Rose would go from avoiding him to wanting to spend every moment with him two seconds later.

Recognizing that Rose didn't want to talk about Scorpius, Al changed the subject. Despite not being a Legilimens, it was like Albus could read Rose's mind. He always knew what she was thinking and what Rose wanted. Even when it came to Scorpius. Of course, Albus knew that Rose had feelings for Scorpius. He didn't like it, but he knew.

"You'll never guess who I ran into last week," Al said.

"Who?" Rose inquired.

"Ricky Hermisch!"

"What? No way!"

Rose hadn't heard from Ricky since they had all graduated from Hogwarts. Ricky Hermisch was Head Boy while Rose was Head Girl. Rose remembered how shocked she had been when she entered the Prefects Carriage and saw that Scorpius wasn't going to be Head Boy. She was thrilled that she wouldn't have to work with Scorpius so soon after he had broken up with her.

It still didn't make sense to Rose that Scorpius hadn't been named Head Boy. But Rose hadn't thought about this in a long time.

"Yeah, I ran into Ricky in Diagon Alley on Tuesday. He's working at the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries. He seemed to be doing well. In fact, he asked about you. Said he missed his Head Girl. Even if he was second choice."

The room seemed to be spinning. Rose must have misheard Albus.

"What did you say?"

"Ricky said he missed you."

"No, not that part," Rose whispered, scolding Albus.

"That he was second choice? Yeah, I didn't know either what he meant. Ricky just said it quickly in passing before he ran off. Why, what are you thinking?"

"Uhh…"

Rose's head was going in a million directions. She thought about all the interactions she had with Ricky, and he never mentioned anything about being the second choice. She had just assumed that McGonagall had picked Ricky over… _Scorpius._ And then Rose thought back to an argument she had with Scorpius at the beginning of the year.

 _"I was Head Girl. If you really were the smartest, you would've been Head Boy. But you weren't, so_ obviously _you weren't as smart as you think you are."_

 _Scorpius's ears were red, and he was pissed. There was no other way to describe it._

 _"Well, what you don't know is-" he started, before stopping himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're right, Rose. I'm not as smart as you. After all, who can compare to the great Rose Weasley?"_

What had Scorpius almost told her? She needed to figure this out right away.

"Rose?" Albus asked, breaking her away from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Al. I'm sorry, but I need to go. I'll owl you later. I'm sorry."

Rose got up and gave Albus a quick kiss on his forehead before running out of the Three Broomsticks. She rushed back to the castle; Rose was out of breath but she didn't care. She needed to find Scorpius right away; she needed to know the truth.

Rushing past her own room, Rose hurried up the staircase. Arriving at Scorpius's doorway, she pushed her hair out of her face and erratically knocked. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. But she needed to.

"Rose?" Scorpius was shocked to see Rose at his door. He was especially confused because Rose had that determined look on her face he knew all too well. Scorpius rubbed his eyes, making sure that Rose was actually there.

Scorpius had just been about to fall asleep, a difficult task considering Rose had been on his mind all day. And here she was, in his doorway.

"Why did you turn down Head Boy?"

Scorpius was stunned into silence. He really did not know what to say.

"How did, uhh, I-"

"Can I come in?" Rose asked. Scorpius nodded and she took a place at his kitchen table.

She remembered what had happened the last time she was here:

 _"What would you do if I kissed you right now?"_

 _"I wouldn't stop you," she replied, her cheeks flushed._

 _Rose didn't even have a chance to blink before Scorpius grabbed her and their lips collided. Rose grasped his face, needing to make sure that he was actually there. His breath smelt like_ firewhiskey _, and she was sure that her breath did too. Scorpius pulled her closer, bodies up against one another. He angled his head so he could move his lips more firmly against her's. Rose moaned, having missed this feeling for so long. She could feel Scorpius smiling as she sunk her hand into his blonde hair. Scorpius started to hoist Rose up onto the table without breaking their kiss. But during the transfer, Rose's wand fell out of her pocket, slamming on the floor._

Rose blushed thinking about that moment. But that wasn't why she was here right now. She needed to focus.

"So why did you turn down being Head Boy?"

"How did you-"

"You should've known I'd figure it out eventually."

Scorpius also took a seat, knowing this conversation was going to take a while. He didn't want to tell Rose, he had kept it hidden for a reason, but it made sense that it would come out eventually. He couldn't have expected something like this to have been kept hidden from Rose forever.

"I-I turned it down because I knew we wouldn't be a good idea. To work with each other, I mean. It was obvious you were going to be Head Girl, so I knew the situation we would be placed in. And if we were both Heads we would need to interact all the time and we would share a dormitory and I knew it would be too much. Especially since I knew you never wanted to speak to me again. But I also knew that you had wanted to be Head Girl and do the job right since before you were even a first year. And I didn't want to ruin things for you. And I was the reason we broke up, so I told McGonagall that I didn't want to be Head Boy and she should give the post to someone else instead."

Rose had no clue what to say. She had learned so much about Scorpius recently, but this took the cake. He had done that, given up being Head Boy, _for her_? But Scorpius was right; Rose couldn't even imagine how awful it would've been if they had both been Heads. It would've destroyed Rose. So, she was thankful for what he did, for both of them, but she didn't know what to say. Words just wouldn't come to her.

"I-"

"And I was sure that if it ever got out that McGonagall offered me the spot first you would force me to Head Boy. Even though you hated me and we weren't speaking at all. So, I made Hermisch swear to never tell anyone that he was the second choice. But I guess he let it slip."

Rose nodded, unsure of what else to do. But Scorpius was correct; if she had known he had been offered the Head Boy spot, she would've made him take it. Even though she hated him. It was just the principle of the thing. Moments like this reminded Rose of how well Scorpius actually knew her.

Scorpius was revealing so much to her; Rose didn't know what to think. He had never been this open before. If Rose was being honest with herself, she had expected Scorpius to attempt to circumvent the question and not actually answer it.

Despite what he had already given her, there was one nagging question, that she had refused to ask Scorpius so many times, and it kept popping into her head. _Why did Scorpius break up with me?_ And every time Rose had ever asked herself that question, she just pushed it down deep, knowing she would never know the answer. She never had enough courage to actually say it out loud before, but now was Rose's chance to ask it. Maybe it was because Scorpius had just revealed something to her, or because it was finally breaking her from within, but Rose knew she just had to ask Scorpius the question.

"Why did you break up with me?"

" _What?_ " Scorpius hoped that he had heard her wrong.

Rose knew he had heard her, but she repeated the question anyway. Now was the moment. There was no point in backing down now.

"Why did you break up with me?"

Scorpius stood up from the table and started pacing frantically. Rose could see that he was having an internal struggle. He pulled on his hair, the frustration evident on his face. Scorpius had just been so open, and now he had retreated. Like he always did.

"I-I can't tell you."

Of course he would say that. But that didn't make Rose any less angry. Now that the question was out there, she needed an answer. She wasn't going to accept his silence.

" _Bullshit_ ," Rose replied, "I think after all of these years I deserve to know. _You don't have a right to keep things from me!_ "

"I, uhh, well, _fuck_ ," Scorpius muttered, still pacing like a mad man. His eyes grew wide as he tried to think of something to say.

But Rose didn't care about that right now. She needed to know the truth. She had waited so long and she wasn't going to wait another moment.

She had imagined Scorpius answering her question so many ways: maybe he never actually loved her or maybe he had found someone better. But she had never expected that he would only say that he couldn't tell her.

"Just tell me! It can't be that difficult to explain, considering it took you all of ten seconds to dump me."

" _That's not fair!_ " Scorpius yelled. He took five deep breaths, refusing to look at Rose. He knew if he glanced in her direction it would be all over. Don't look at Rose and her pissed face. Don't look at Rose and her pissed face. Don't-

"Damnit, Malfoy, just LOOK AT ME!"

Scorpius stopped pacing and his eyes were drawn to Rose's. He could see the hurt and confusion in her eyes, but he still didn't know how to put his thoughts into words. He didn't know how to explain it. He couldn't. He had kept all of this to himself, just himself, for so long that he didn't know how he could tell Rose.

Rose couldn't believe he hadn't said anything. Scorpius looked like a deer in the headlights. But that didn't matter. For once it was about _her_ and figuring out the truth. No more secrets, no matter how badly it hurt.

" _Tell me_ ," Rose said, trying to calm herself down. Maybe yelling hadn't been the right approach. "I can handle it." Waiting a few moments, Scorpius still hadn't responded. Screw that, it was back to yelling then. "You keep all of these things to yourself, and it's not fair! Especially because it _involves me_! _Why are you such a coward?_ "

Scorpius groaned before spitting out: " _I didn't have a choice! Okay?_ " His jaw dropped, realizing that those words had just come out of his mouth.

"What the bloody hell does that mean?"

Well, he had to tell Rose now, right? He really didn't have a choice.

"It means that my grandfather gave me an ultimatum," Scorpius whispered, hoping Rose wouldn't hear him. Rose's eyes grew wide, shocked at what he was saying. Scorpius sat back down at the table, thinking it might be better if he wasn't standing anymore.

"What was the ultimatum?"

"You or my family. He told me that I'd be disowned and he would disown my parents too."

Rose was surprised to say the least. She was aware that Lucius Malfoy hated her, but to give Scorpius an ultimatum was another thing entirely.

"Oh."

"I didn't care about _me_ being disowned. It was just-"

"It was about your parents. Because they would've supported your choice even if it was me. But since your dad still works for Malfoy Enterprises, your family would literally have no money. I get it. And that's why you told your mom that I broke up with you. So you wouldn't need to tell your parents about Lucius's ultimatum," Rose ended, resigned to the fact.

How could she have asked Scorpius to give up his family's financial security, and maybe even their happiness, just for her? She understood what he had done. She hated how it affected her, but she, too, would do anything for family.

"You know how much I love my family," Scorpius began, feeling as if he hadn't explained it well enough to Rose, "and I knew breaking up with you was better for you too."

Rose was okay with what Scorpius had said. That was until he claimed that breaking up with Rose _was better for her._

" _What_?"

Scorpius wasn't sure what he had said wrong. He didn't get it. Rose had even sounded like she understood, which was better than he could have ever asked for.

"Yeah," he began cautiously, "I knew breaking up with you would be best for you. So you wouldn't get tied into my family drama anymore. It's complicated enough and my grandfather made it clear that he wasn't going to make it easier on you."

Rose was fuming. It was one thing for Scorpius to break up with her for the good of his family, but it was another to say he did it for _her._ It definitely wasn't for her; their breakup left her emotionally devastated.

"I-I _how dare you_?" Rose said.

"What?" Scorpius was confused. He thought that Rose got it.

"You just- you can say you did this for me all you want, but you know that's bullshit. I get it, but don't try and make yourself the martyr. This wasn't about protecting me." Rose's nostrils were enflamed. She couldn't remember a time she had been this angry. And James had set her hair on fire. Twice. "And besides, you should have told me all of this when you ended things! You always kept things to yourself, and that's not fair. I would have understood more than how you just _shut me out. It killed me when you did that_."

That's how she felt? Scorpius didn't know how to react, but since Rose was angry it made him angry too. And Scorpius Malfoy was not good at controlling his anger.

"Wow, well that's surprising," he bitingly remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it didn't take you long to get over me!"

Rose was surprised that Scorpius had taken the discussion (or argument, it seemed to change constantly) to that place. He didn't have a right to say that she wasn't upset after he ended things. He just didn't.

" _Why the bloody Merlin would you think that_?" Rose asked, standing up from the table, then leaning against the counter.

"You told me that. _Remember_?"

Oh yeah. She had told him that earlier in the year when he asked her that very question:

 _"How long did it take you to get over me after we broke up?"_

 _"Really? REALLY? For one goddamn second I thought we could actually get past our twisted past and just pretend to be normal! That's all I want! And then you have to go and be an idiot. I'll see you later-" she yelled before Scorpius grabbed her arm._

 _"So how long did it take you?" he repeated, not forgetting that she hadn't answered the question._

 _"Damn it, Scorpius! Fine, it didn't take long, okay? I mean we only dated for six months!" she said, hoping her response was good enough for him. Even if she wasn't sure if it was actually the truth._

Rose had told Scorpius all of that. But he actually had believed it? It was such a lie.

"How stupid are you, you git?!" Rose asked, her filter completely gone. "Of course I was lying! It took me _forever_ to get over you!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

Lucky for her, Scorpius was having the same issue. Not even comprehending Rose's words, his malicious mouth was at it again.

"Well, _I'm so sorry for you. At least you got over me!_ "

"What does that mean?" Rose whispered, not knowing what answer she wanted to hear. But her tone had suddenly changed, all anger forgotten.

"I think you know what it means," Scorpius muttered, walking over to Rose. He looked deeply into Rose's eyes, standing only inches away from her. "I'm not over you."

Rose couldn't tear her eyes away from Scorpius as they stood in silence. She could hear herself breathing as neither person could look away from the other. Maybe it was what he had said, or maybe it was the way his eyes bore into her soul, or maybe it was just because Rose wanted to, but she closed the gap between the two of them and brought her lips to his.

Scorpius responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her. Rose gripped Scorpius's hair, pulling slightly. He lifted Rose so she was sitting on the counter, and moved so he was standing between her legs. In turn, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Rose knew that she shouldn't be doing this. Not with Scorpius. Not with all of the things he kept from her and the lies he told. _But he told her that he had never gotten over her._ And if she was being honest with herself, had she really gotten over him?

So ignoring her gut, Rose continued to snog Scorpius, grinning as she nipped his lower lip. Oh yeah, there was no way she was going to stop now.

* * *

 _December 10, 2022 during Rose and Scorpius's sixth year_

 _It was cold outside, but Rose didn't care. Sitting on Scorpius's lap, she laughed as Scorpius made some corny joke. She couldn't believe how happy she was. She had Scorpius and her family, and school was going great, and everything was just wonderful. Even Albus had noticed how happy Rose had been recently. Yes, her and Scorpius had only been dating for about two months, but Rose knew that Scorpius was special. He was very important to her._

 _The two of them rarely talked about their feelings, but they both knew how the other felt. They didn't need to discuss it in order to know. Nonetheless, Rose wouldn't mind if maybe Scorpius expressed his feelings every once in a while._

 _"Did you hear me?" Scorpius asked, waking Rose up from her imagination._

 _"What?"_

 _"I asked you if you were getting cold."_

 _"I'm fine. Perfect actually."_

 _"Okay, Weasley," he teased. "I'll just pretend I didn't see you shivering."_

 _"Shut up, Malfoy," she muttered, lightly hitting his arm. Scorpius smirked. "And get that stupid smirk off your face."_

 _"Not until you get that fiery mane under control," he joked, brushing Rose's hair out of her face._

 _"Yeah, okay. Let's just wait until Gryffindor beats Slytherin in Quidditch. Oh wait." Gryffindor had just beaten Slytherin at the match last week, so of course Rose had to rub it in. Scorpius rolled his eyes, knowing that Rose would never let this go._

 _"You're ridiculous. Merlin, I love you."_

 _Scorpius froze, realizing what he had just said. Rose couldn't move either, trying to figure out if he meant it as a joke or not._

 _"Umm, what I meant was-"_

 _"Say it again," Rose dared him, not able to look anywhere but his piercing gray eyes._

 _"Rose Weasley. I love you."_

 _Rose gasped and briefly kissed Scorpius before enveloping him in the biggest hug she could muster. She couldn't believe he actually meant it. He truly loved her. And there was only one thing she could say in return._

 _"I love you too."_

* * *

Scorpius started planting kisses on Rose's neck, working his way up to her jaw and her ear. Rose started to unbutton the top buttons on his shirt until she got impatient and just pulled off the shirt entirely. Rose pulled upwards on Scorpius's hair so she could kiss him properly again. She needed to feel his lips on hers again. His tongue darted into her mouth, and she couldn't stop herself from moaning. Rose pulled off her own jumper as Scorpius moved them further away from the kitchen and closer and closer to his bedroom. Scorpius's breath hitched as Rose traced circles on his stomach. He grabbed her tighter as they continued to kiss, making sure to leave not an inch of space between them. Scorpius grinned, not sure if this was reality or just another one of his fantasies. Reaching his bedroom, Rose chuckled before slamming the door shut behind them. Nothing was going to stop them now.


End file.
